


Inseparable

by Lexadant



Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Animal Abuse, Body Horror, Human Experimentation, Hurt/Comfort, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:14:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 26,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26706577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lexadant/pseuds/Lexadant
Summary: When Baction crumbled to the ground, Yuri and Repede disappeared along with Alexei and Estelle. Months later, with the Adephagos defeated, they’re found, but they’ve been… changed. Flynn can try to fix the damage that has been caused, but there's a long road ahead.This story is unfinished and is likely to remain that way!
Kudos: 2





	1. Trials

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Number Twenty Eight](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/692920) by https://www.fanfiction.net/u/175657/Sevlow. 



> Hello everyone! I'm posting this fanfic because I worked pretty hard on it when I was actually, you know, writing it, and it's the longest fic I've ever written even a wip like this. The planning for this fic started in 2018, and the last chapter was written sometime in 2019. It's not going to be perfect, but I wanted to actually post it because I enjoyed the concept and only like two people ever read it.
> 
> That being said though, it's really unlikely this is going to get finished, so keep that in mind. Only 4 chapters are written, 9 are plotted, but if this is ever finished there will probably be 12 or so chapters. One day I might come back and mess with it, but for now what you see is what you get.
> 
> Also, I didn't re-read the whole thing before posting, so if I get a few tags wrong just let me know and I'll add them. <3

“Oh, how disappointing. He’s dead.”

Alexei stood of the entelexeia’s lifeless body, watching impassively as the creature glowed softly and disappeared, only a small, levitating crystal left in its place. Alexei reached down, taking the apatheia in hand, turning it over to inspect it carefully. He gave no mind to the people behind him, and he spoke aloud, mostly to himself. “Ah, what a shame. It’s small. That is no matter, however. Now, then….” He reached into his uniform to pocket the crystal and he straightened up, turning towards the ensembled party. His expression was perfectly neutral as he gazed upon them, meeting their fierce gazes evenly. “You’ve come this far. I must applaud you in that regard.”

He descended the steps of the shrine with careful, pointed steps. Following close behind him was the orb that imprisoned the princess’ body. “Unfortunately, however, you will not be allowed any further. Your own princess will be stopping you.” The ends of his lips twitched up into a bemused smile as he raised his left hand, and the apatheia he held began to glow. So did the princess’ prison, and she let out a shrill cry as light pulsed from her, filling the room with thick, charged aer. Alexei seemed unaffected, but the pulse had knocked back the adventurers, and had weakened them as they attempted to get back to their feet.

“Please,” the princess whispered, her voice thin with pain, “please _stop_ .” She was powerless to stop any of the pain, physical or emotional, and tears pricked the edges of her eyes. She was nothing but a puppet at this point, unable to control what she did or what was done to her. And then she heard a shout, and she opened her eyes to see Yuri. He’d raised his glowing sword―Dein Nomos, she recognized―high in the air. It shone, and runes appeared beneath Yuri’s feet, curling against the ground before light blossomed around him. Energy flowed through the blade, and another light flashed; when it had dissipated, the aer had been neutralized. Yuri didn’t waste a moment and he lunged forward. He swiped the energized blade down at him, and a sharp _clang!_ reverberated throughout the room as Alexei’s own blade met Dein Nomos.

“Ironic,” Alexei said, “that the blade I have searched for years to find would arrive at my feet, only when I no longer have a need for it.”

Yuri’s face twisted in anger and he pulled away. He stepped to the side and drove the sword towards Alexei again. They clashed. Dein Nomos grew closer, empowered by the aer it had absorbed. “You fucker,” Yuri snarled, pressing down on the blade. Alexei managed to shove him back. “Let her go. You’re doing nothing but hurting her!”

“Get out of my way, boy,” Alexei warned, “or I will put an end to you once and for all.” Estelle screamed again as aer pulsed from the sphere, briefly overtaking Yuri. The sword quickly absorbed the aer, but the brief distraction was all Alexei needed. The commandant stepped forward, slashing at Yuri with his own blade. Yuri hissed as the blade bit past fabric and into his skin, and he could feel the warm sensation of blood slicking his chest. He raised his blade to parry the next attack, but he was still driven back a step. He grit his teeth, looked Alexei in the eye, and grinned humorlessly, deflecting the sword away.

“Make me,” he spat, venom dripping off his voice, and he tried again to cut the sword across Alexei’s stomach. Alexei was no stranger to combat and he eluded Yuri’s sword. Yuri swung wide, and Alexei stepped forward, slamming the hilt of his weapon into Yuri’s shoulder. The impact weakened Yuri’s grip and Alexei brought down his heavy blade onto Yuri’s. Dein Nomos clinked as it fell to the ground, sliding a few feet away. Yuri glanced at Alexei, to the weapon, and then back to Alexei, before he attempted to slip away to regain his weapon.

Alexei was fast, though, and grabbed the collar of Yuri’s jacket. He glared at his unarmed opponent, said evenly, “I will,” and he raised his sword, prepared to bring it into Yuri’s chest. He gave a brief pause, however, when a dog barked, and a second later he felt teeth around his ankle. He glanced down to Repede, snarling and pulling as hard as he could at Alexei’s leg to try and knock him off balance. Yuri squirmed in his grasp and tried to twist away, aiming a kick at Alexei. The commandant grunted when Yuri made contact, but he didn’t let go. He grit his teeth, a brief spark of frustration in his eye, and then he raised the hand with the sword, but not to plunge it forward. Instead, he waved it, and yet another flash of light filled the cavernous shrine.

The shrine went dark, lit only by torches on either side of the room. Most importantly, though, they were gone. Alexei, Estelle, Yuri, and Repede had all disappeared to the light.

Silenced reigned at length, and Karol was the first to speak up. His tone was hesitant and frightened as he asked, “Where’d they go?”

“They just… left,” Rita whispered, her voice shocked, and she darted forward, standing over to where they had been fighting a few moments ago. The only trace the four had left behind was Dein Nomos, glowing and lying still several feet away, and Yuri’s blood splattered on the ground. Otherwise, it was like they’d never been there in the first place. “What the hell?”

Judith tilted her head, eyebrows raised, and she turned her head when she heard the metallic clinking and heavy footfalls from the hallway outside. “Well,” she mused, readying her spear, “it seems we have more problems coming.”

A squadron of the royal guard emerged from the grand entrance, marching in and stopping before them. They all turned at the heel to face the party, and then, as one, they drew their swords. Someone followed them inside, though slower, with firm, careful steps, not quite marching but not quite walking either. The man looked strangely familiar, especially as he raised his head to the altar. Surprise sparked in his eyes as he saw the empty space where his commanding officer was supposed to be, and he turned to the group and spoke, his voice almost accusatory. “Where is Alexei?”

The response he got was shocked silence, which, for the second time that day, reigned strong. They knew the owner of that voice, and the owner of that voice was _not_ a knight. No, he was….

“Raven?” Karol asked, breaking the silence once again. Shock and hope both shone on his face. He was still scared, though. “R-Raven, what’s going on?”

“I said, where is Alexei?” Not-Raven’s voice was firm. It was completely lacking Raven’s usual jovial, casual accent. It was stiff and professional and terribly wrong.

“He disappeared,” Judith said, “with Estelle, Yuri, and Repede.”

Not-Raven stared at her for a second, his icy gaze unreadable, and then he raised his hand. He gestured to the knights, and said curtly, “Out. I’ll handle them on my own.” There was a brief hesitation, like the knights were uncertain of this, but they evidently trusted their superior officer. They faced again, before marching out of the room. Not-Raven was quiet as they left.

“What’s with the getup?” Rita asked, crossing her arms. “Did you have to change before you handed Estelle over to that asshole?” Venom coated her words, but it didn’t seem to faze the man in front of them at all.

“I am not Raven,” he said evenly, his voice unwavering. “I am Captain Schwann of the Imperial Knights.” Hesitation shone in his eyes, but everything else remained steady. “I am here by order of Commandant Alexei himself, to stop you from pursuing him.” Something boomed over his words; a distant explosion. The ceiling rumbled and a shower of dust cascaded from the ceiling. The group exchanged glances, worried, and then Not-Raven―Captain Schwann―sighed. He seemed to hesitate again, and his hand, previously readied on the hilt of his sword, fell away. “But I don’t suppose Commandant Alexei is here to enforce those orders, now is he? C’mon. We need ta hurry and get outta here, before he tries burying us all.” He fell into his casual accent easily, and he almost smiled. “Alexei’s plannin’ to bring this place down on us. I was s’posed to hold you all back, but….” He shrugged. “What’s he gonna do? Try and bury me alive?”

For a second, they all hesitated. None of them seemed too keen to trust the old man again, evidenced rather clearly by Rita’s glare, but another explosion rattled the shrine. A rock fell down, knocking a torch from its sconch, and that lurched them into action.

“H-he’s right,” Karol said. “We need to go. Come on, guys!”

His vision was white, and he was really starting to hate bright lights. Alexei had grabbed him, been prepared to end him right there, and then Repede had attacked, and then he’d tried to escape. After that, all he could think of was _light_ , and that’s all he could still think of, and it was a long few moments before he could see properly. He could still feel a firm grip on his jacket, and when he looked up, blinking away the blurriness, he saw Alexei still there, although distracted. Alexei was still holding on to Yuri, though he kicked at Repede, who still had a death grip on the commandant’s armored leg. Alexei growled in annoyance before shouting. “Guards!”

Fuck! Yuri twisted, yanking himself away from Alexei’s grasp and he jerked back a few steps. He glanced around, and was well aware of exactly where he was; the throne room of the palace. But how? He’d been standing on the old, worn cobblestone floors of the shrine only a few seconds ago. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a long to think about this strange means of transportation, because he heard the metallic footsteps of more knights. They were getting louder.

“Repede, come on!” he shouted, before darting forward. Unfortunately, he hadn’t quite mapped out the layout of the palace in the few minutes he’d been escaping it, and even if he had he’d never been to the wing of the castle they were running through. So, he picked a random hallway and ran. Repede let go of Alexei’s leg and was beside Yuri in a moment, and the two sprinted through the unfamiliar halls of the castle. They passed a few knights that promptly gave chase, but luckily Yuri and Repede were both quite used to being chased and it wasn’t hard to stay ahead.

He passed down a vaguely-familiar corridor and grinned when he saw the entrance. It was unsurprisingly blocked by a row of royal guards, their swords drawn at the ready, but Yuri and Repede could get past them, surely.

“Grave Worm!” came Alexei’s shout from behind them, and a second later, a burst of energy surged up from Yuri and Repede’s feet, flinging them to the side. They slammed into the ground, hard enough to drive the air from their lungs, and the guards didn’t waste a moment to descend on them. Yuri had only managed to get to his feet by the time they had advanced. Unfortunately, he was unarmed, and they were very much armed. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t try fighting, though. He struck at one of them, but another knight flanked him, grabbing his arms and twisting them back behind him. He struggled in the man’s grasp, but a third knight lunged forward to hold him still and he felt cold metal lock around his wrists.

“Fuck!” he spat in frustration, kicking at the nearest knight’s shin. His boot dinged off of metal, and the knight appeared no worse for wear. “Get your hands off me!”

He heard a knight shout and it briefly caught his attention. He looked over at the scene. Repede’s teeth had sunk into a chink in the knight’s armor, and Yuri took this time to shout encouragements to his companion. “Yeah, get ’m, Repede! Show him who’s boss!” Repede simply snarled in reply, biting deeper before he shook his head, tearing at both fabric and flesh to cause what was sure to be a rather nasty wound. A couple knights moved in behind him, and he let go to avoid one of them, though that just ended up with him crashing into another. The guard grabbed Repede by the scruff as the dog twisted to try and bite the man’s hand off, and another stepped forward to grab the harness Repede wore, keeping him from squirming away. Repede glared fearlessly at the knights through his one good eye, snapping whenever a hand threatened to get too close. He was held in place, though, and a knight unclipped his cape to tie, albeit with considerable difficulty, it around Repede’s snout, working as a makeshift muzzle. A proper one would come later, but until then, they didn’t need Repede biting everyone.

Alexei neared them, his sword still drawn. His footsteps clicked against the reflective marble floors, and Estelle floated soundlessly behind him. She looked exhausted and barely conscious, and she gazed at Yuri with tears in her eyes.

“You’ve made quite the grave mistake,” Alexei said, stopping in front of where the two guards held Yuri by the arms. “Fortunately, it’ll be the last mistake you make. Do not worry; you will be used _properly_ , to further my needs.” The look in Alexei’s eye was dark and ominous.

“What the fuck are you planning to do?” Yuri snapped, jerking forward. Not a speck of fear was in his face; it was all just fiery defiance. “I’m not going to further anything of yours.”

“I’m afraid that’s not your choice to make,” Alexei said. He turned to the knights. “I want them transported to the secondary research facility.” His faint, dark smile grew a bit. “Tell the higher-ups there I want them both placed in the main program. Now, I have business to attend to. Please be quick about it.”

“Yes, sir!” the response declared as one. The knights than had hands free to salute, did.

“Wait!” Yuri shouted, pulling again against the soldiers. They yanked him back again, and when Yuri didn’t cease in his struggling, one of them slapped him roughly. It worked only mildly, and Yuri still spoke, barely paying any attention to those holding him. “What facility!? What program? What the fuck are you trying, Alexei!?!”

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Alexei replied simply, before disappearing into the halls of the palace.

Yuri waited. He waited because that was the only thing there was to do in the holding cell he was in. Repede was in the cell beside him, though the dog was chained to the bench in the cell because the bars were too far spaced, and otherwise he would have been able to escape rather easily. He’d been properly muzzled as well. Things weren’t looking too great at the moment, and neither of them looked particularly happy about the whole arrangement.

“I wish they’d just hurry up and take us wherever they’re going to take us. I’m getting bored just sitting here.” Yuri shifted his weight on the hard mattress. “I’m going to _kill_ that bastard if it’s the last thing I do!”

Repede woofed softly in agreement. The dog was pacing back and forth as far as the chain would let him, and he panted uncomfortably. Yuri understood his discomfort; when he was down here, Repede was never down here with him. This was a fairly new experience for him.

“Don’t worry, buddy,” he said, as reassuring as he could manage. “We’ll get out of here.”

Of course, escape wasn’t his main problem at the moment. His primary concern, which had been at the forefront of his mind for the past few days, was Estelle. She was clearly in a lot of pain, physical and emotional, and Alexei just kept using her with no regard for her wellbeing. He had to save her, and saving her was, at the moment, his top priority.

Yuri rose from the bench he’d been seated on, walking to the door to his cell. He put his hands on the bars and tested it gently, and it only moved a little before it was stopped by the lock on the door. “It’d be nice if I still had those keys, wouldn’t it?” he asked Repede, glancing over. He paused. “Actually, never mind. I don’t want anything that old man has to give.” Raven was the only damn reason they were here. If it weren’t for him, Estelle wouldn’t be in pain, and he and Repede wouldn’t be in chains in the basement of the palace. He just had to hope the rest of their friends were ok, because if they weren’t that just made the situation all the more hopeless. He sighed heavily before resting his forehead on the cold bars. “Damn it all.”

Repede whined loudly. A moment later, the door to the dungeon opened. A few guards entered the room, striding wordlessly down the steps. They stopped in front of Yuri’s cell, unlocking the door after motioning him back. The moment the door was unlocked, Yuri sprang out, nearly tripping on the chains around his feet. He pulled his hands back to strike at one, and his fist collided with the metal of the knight’s helmet, which stunned the man and hurt his hand, though the former was only for a moment. That was all he was able to do before he got three swords pointed in his face. He glared crossly back at them, staring at them for a long moment before he raised his hands in surrender. He was quickly grabbed and his hands, once again, were shackled.

“Walk,” one of them commanded after they had surrounded him in a loose formation.

“I’m not going to―”

“ _Walk_.” The tip of a sword poked him in the back and he scowled, turning his head to glare daggers at the knight. He stayed defiantly still for another moment, but when the sword’s pressure increased, he finally started moving.

“You know, you guys are all being pretty rude,” he said. “Also, how in the hell are you still following that guy? He’s torturing the princess for his power! How can you just let that slide?”

“Shut up.”

“I’m not going to shut up! You guys are just blindly following a maniacal, crazy fucking _murderer_ and you’re ok with it! What the hell are you not―”

The point of the sword left his back, but he barely had time to notice because the hilt of said sword slammed into the back of his head. He staggered forward a step, dazed, and nearly tripped yet again. He was shoved forward and the sword replaced itself at his back, just daring him to make the wrong move.

When they got outside of the palace, Yuri was led quickly to a cart parked right outside of the palace’s entrance. He glared at the wooden vehicle with such ire that the cart may have burst into flames if Yuri had been a bit more magically inclined. Unfortunately, it did not, and he was forced inside. A knight grabbed the shackles on his wrists and chained it to the wooden frame of the cart. Yuri wanted to say something, though he couldn’t; the knights had gagged him in the amount of time it took to walk from the dungeons to the cart, because they had realized blows alone wouldn’t keep him quiet.

He stared at the castle and he saw a glowing red light shine from near the top of it. The light seemed to infect the sky and the cloudless sky turned a demonic red color. It seemed to affect something else, as well; the barrier flickered, and dread set into Yuri’s stomach. What was going on? It flickered again, and then the barrier disappeared altogether. Zaphias had become defenseless.

 _Estelle,_ he thought, seeing another red flash. _Please be ok. The rest are going to help you. They’re going to save you, I know it._

Because he certainly couldn’t. He looked down in frustration at the damned shackles, because there was nothing he could _do_. Alexei was back in the castle, torturing Estelle for her powerful magic, and he was stuck here in a stupid fucking wagon waiting to be escorted to gods-knew-where to a facility to participate in some program that was probably going to end up with him dead or worse! He clenched his fists in frustration, staring at his boots and letting out a shaky breath.

He heard infuriating growling and glanced up. A few knights were transporting Repede in a cage barely big enough for him. Repede was pacing around the center, occasionally trying to swipe a paw out to distract them or at least get them to put the cage down. His lips were curled in a furious snarl, though he couldn’t bite them through the restricting muzzle. Yuri sympathized with the dog’s aggravation, but it pissed him off to see Repede being treated so roughly. He let out a muffled shout to one of the knights and tried to rise to his feet, but he was yanked right back down by the guard seated beside him. His blood boiled and he scowled. Fuck, if he ever got his hands on one of these stupid royal guards, they would _regret_ the day they ever laid hands on Repede.

Repede’s cage was pushed into the cart, and it was big enough that it pinned Yuri’s already-restrained legs against the wall. A few knights moved into the cart afterwards, taking seats beside Yuri or on the other side, and a final one closed the back of the wagon. A moment later, he felt the wagon begin to move.

  
  


It had been two weeks since they had boarded the ship. Yuri only knew this because he and Repede were only fed once a day, him a tasteless, thin soup and Repede a scarce helping of dried meat. In any case, Yuri was hungry, and he could only imagine Repede was the same. They couldn’t spare two meals a day instead of one? They were cheap bastards, for sure. He doubted the cared either way, though, and were just making sure that neither of them died. This was even more evident by the lack of regard for their comfort when it came to their living quarters; a small, featureless wooden room in the hold of the ship. Repede was still trapped in the too-small cage and had become fiercely restless. He had ended up biting on the bars and chewing on the fur of his own tail in the meantime, trying to relieve the ever-increasing boredom.

Yuri had been able to slightly reach his hand through the bars and he gently pet Repede. He scratched between the dog’s ears and Repede gave up chewing on a bar long enough to lean into his hand. Yuri sighed softly, staring at him through the bars. They couldn’t have afforded to give him a bigger cage, either? It was barely big enough for Repede to turn around it, much less live in for a couple weeks.

The door opened with such aggressive ferocity that they both jumped. Yuri looked up at the knight who stood there. The man wasn’t carrying anything to eat or drink, which surprised him, but the man also looked a lot more intimidating than the people who usually brought him his daily soup. He put his hand on his sword, and ordered firmly, “Get up.”

Yuri frowned and didn’t move a muscle. “I don’t know. I kinda like the arrangements you’ve got down here. Really homey and comfortable, you know?”

The knight drew his sword, walking over. He grabbed Yuri by the hair and yanked him to his feet. Yuri hissed as his hand caught on the bars of the cage for a moment, and he was wrenched to his feet. He glared at the knight. “Alright, alright! I’m coming! Sheesh….”

The guard jerked him forward, his grip in Yuri’s hair remaining firm. Yuri grit his teeth as he was pulled up the stairs to the main deck. He squinted; he hadn’t seen the light of day in two whole weeks, and it hurt his eyes. Once he got used to the light, though, he saw land before him. They were near a beach, and the knight led Yuri into a rowbot hoisted on the side of the ship, where a couple of soldiers were already seated. He was forced in at swordpoint, and the boat was lowered to the water.

Yuri glanced down at the tantalizing water as it neared. Unfortunately, swimming with shackled ankles wasn’t going to be happening anytime soon; if he could, he’d dive in a moment’s thought. After all, the three guards on the boat with him were in heavy armor. There would be no way they would try and go after him. Although, even if he could swim in his restrained state, he didn’t know where he’d go. He wasn’t really sure what continent they were even on―it certainly didn’t look familiar, after all―and all he could see in the distance were pine trees and mountains.

Two of the soldiers rowed them to land, while the other kept his eye on Yuri. They landed, and forced Yuri out again, marching him across the beach to where sand gave way to grass and rock. A few meters away was a path, and on the path another cart was parked, presumably for his and Repede’s transportation. He assumed it was to take them to their final destination. He thought about his options at the moment. He wasn’t gagged, and his hands weren’t shackled―not yet, at least, and it wasn’t like he could do anything at this point―so it was an improvement over last time. However, he was in the middle of nowhere with no other civilization in sight. So that was a problem.

He was pushed into the cart and sat across from a knight, glaring daggers at him, and he glanced back towards the knights that had put him in. They were headed back to the rowboat, presumably to bring Repede as well. That was another chink in his plan; he wasn’t going to leave without Repede. He didn’t know what they would do to him. There was only one knight here, and the driver, so he wasn’t well secured. But at the same time, he had nowhere to run, was slowed by the shackles, and would be abandoning his best friend if he left. It was all so frustrating. “Dammit,” he muttered to himself, fists clenching. He really did want to punch the guy in front of him, but he didn’t feel like getting even more swords in his face than he had earlier.

The knight shot him a look. “Don’t get rowdy,” he snapped, turning away again. Yuri’s glare intensified.

“I’ll be as rowdy as I want to get,” he said, but unfortunately, he was ignored. This made his blood boil even more, but he could do nothing about it. Instead, he sat there simmering, trying to melt a hole in the back of the knight’s helmet with his glare. He thought crossly about all the ways he could exact his revenge. There were oh _so_ many.

When Repede’s cage had been loaded into the cart and Yuri’s wrists had been shackled again, they set off again. It took them several hours to traverse the thin path of the forest, and by the time they reached their destination, night had fallen, passed, and dawn had arrived. The colorful streaks littering the sky would have been beautiful, awe-inspiring sights, if Yuri wasn’t worried about the well-being of two of his best friends.

They reached a rather well-hidden building. The entrance jutted out from the face of a cliff, and the facility seemed, for the most part, to be hewn out of the mountain itself. It was surrounded by trees and thick undergrowth, except for the small path to the beach that had been carved out with use, and a small clearing in front of the building.

Several knights strode from the entrance. They spoke in hushed voices with the guards that accompanied Yuri and Repede. Yuri strained to hear them, but he couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. One of the knights saluted, and the two that had accompanied them since the capital took Repede’s cage and began to hoist it towards the building. Repede tried to nip their hands, but the gauntlets protected them from the attempted massacre of their fingers. The knights that had come from the building surrounded Yuri next, and one pulled out a kerchief. Yuri eyed it in cautious confusion before it was moved over his eyes and firmly tied against his head, effectively blindfolding him.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Yuri hissed, trying to twist away before it had been completely tied. He felt, a moment later, a sudden sting as the knight slapped him. He took a staggering step away, and then he felt himself pulled forward. He was marched inside, only able to tell because of the stiffness of the air inside. He tried a couple of times to move away, but he was stopped every time. Finally, one of the knights got enough of it and picked Yuri up by the waist. He was slung over the knight’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes and the man’s pauldron dug into his side. He hissed, trying to squirm away, but it was no good.

They walked through twisting corridors, finally coming to a heavy door. He could hear it whine at it was opened, and after they went in, it closed with a slow, but resounding thud. They reached another door and it squawked when it opened, and Yuri was dropped to the floor. He was pinned on his stomach on the ground. He couldn’t see what was happening, but he heard several clicks and felt the shackles leave his wrists. The blindfold wasn’t removed, and he reached for it when a sudden pain blossomed in his side as a metal boot came in contact with his ribcage. He wheezed, dazed for a moment, and he heard the door close and lock behind him.

He scrambled to remove the blindfold and he tossed it aside, taking quick note of his surroundings. He was in a cell, and to his right, so was Repede. They were in a large, white room, lit by stark white lighting, and their cells were separated from each other and the rest of the room by narrow bars. His room was sparse, with nothing more for furnishing other than a toilet that left no room for privacy, a rusted sink, and a thin, hay-filled mattress on the floor as a poor excuse for a bed. Repede’s was even sparser, with nothing but a bowl for food to be poured into.

Repede paced in his cell. At least he must be somewhat appreciative; he’d been released from the much smaller prison of the tiny cage, and the muzzle had been removed. 

“We really did get into some deep shit, didn’t we, buddy?” Yuri sighed, leaning against the bars to Repede’s cell before he sat down. He stretched his legs; he hadn’t been able to in the past few weeks, and at least that was nice to be able to do. Repede looked at him and whined, padding over. He stuck his paw through the bars, gently swiping at Yuri. His paw caught on Yuri’s shoulder. It was as if he was trying to comfort him, and Yuri smiled faintly in response. “It’ll be fine. We’ll get out of this together. Nobody can keep us caged up that long, can they?”

Repede barked softly and wagged his tail. _That’s right_ , he seemed to agree. _Nobody._

They were only sitting there for perhaps an hour before someone came to get them. Or, at least, one of them. A person that, by their attire, seemed to be a mage strolled in first. They were followed by a pair of armed knights. Yuri expected them to come for him and he braced himself to fight them off, but they walked right by his cell with barely more than a cursory glance towards him. Instead, the mage unlocked the door to Repede’s cell, and stepped back to let in the knights.

Repede snarled at them and backed away. One of the knights held a metal staff with a circular cord at the end, which he attempted to loop around Repede’s neck. The other knight advanced on the dog, cornering him until they managed to catch him. Repede snapped at them, but the dog could do nothing as he was dragged forward.

“Hey!” Yuri shouted, grasping the bars between them. He wished direly that he could do more than just shout at the soldiers hurting Repede. “Don’t touch him, you bastards!” His cries were ignored, though, and they yanked Repede by the staff, ruthlessly dragging him out. He barked, struggling and digging in his paws, but both of them were powerless to stop the knights. Repede was dragged out of the cell and then out of the room completely, the three led by the ornately-robed mage.

Yuri stared at them before he took a few steps back. He turned towards the wall before he drew his fist back and punched it hard. A crunch followed, and a nanosecond later, pure agony radiated up from his hand and he cursed loudly. His knuckles were probably broken. He didn’t really care. The pain helped to distract him from his pessimistic thoughts, but it only helped so much. There was so much shit going wrong. His dog was just taken for his enemies to do who-knew-what to him, they’d been captured by the enemy in the first place, he had Estelle to worry about, and he didn’t know if his friends were ok or not. His chest tightened and he breathed quicker. He stumbled to the mattress in the corner and slid down to sit on it, staring at his hand. This was all Alexei’s fault. Fuck! If that rotten commandant wasn’t in power, everything would still be ok. Everything would be ok, but it _wasn’t_. He was stuck here, rotting in a cell while all of his friends were in terrible danger.

His fingers combed through his hair as he tried to calm himself. He needed to think straight if he was going to devise a plan to get out of here. His options were limited, to say the least. He had no weapon, no blastia, and neither did Repede. He didn’t know the way out, though Repede might. He didn’t have anything to break the bars or pick the lock with, and they were too narrow to slip through. At the moment, all of his escape options seemed to be moot.

It wasn’t long after Repede left―maybe five minutes, ten at the most―when he heard the first yelp ring out. It was muffled through the building, but it was very much audible. He knew exactly, however, whose cry it was. The hairs on the back of his neck rose uneasily and he found himself standing. He walked to the cell door and craned his head to try and see outside the small window on the large door to the outside. He couldn’t see anything. What were they doing to him?

The yelp came again, louder and higher this time. Then another, and another, until the cries were not yelps any longer but had turned into long, pitiful, terrifying screams. The last time he’d heard Repede scream like that was when he was a puppy and a monster had scratched his eye out. That had been one of the most unsettling sounds he’d ever heard. Until now, that was.

“Hey!!! What are you doing!?!” he shouted, trying to get someone― _anyone’s_ ―attention. “Leave him alone!! _Hey_!”

He got no reply. He wasn’t even sure if anyone could hear him. The screams kept coming, loud and high-pitched, before suddenly they cut out altogether. The silence was far more deafening than the screams. Anxiety twisted in his stomach and he stared out of the bars, unaware how tightly he was holding them.

Five agonizingly slow minutes later, the knights returned. One of the knights held Repede’s limp body. There were no visible wounds on him, but he remained as still as a stone. He’d been stripped of his old collar and harness, and instead, he wore a thick black collar that Yuri didn’t get a good look at. He was too worried about the fact that Repede wasn’t moving, and he still didn’t when the knight holding him dumped him into the cell. The knight stepped out, slamming the door shut, and Yuri’s eyes were transfixed. He dimly heard footsteps and creaking whine, but he paid them no regard. It was only when he saw the shuddering rise of Repede’s chest that a breath of relief left him, and he noticed that the knights were coming for him now.

He turned on his heel and swung a fist towards them. He struck one of the knights in the stomach and darted out of the cell door. He shoved the one at the entrance to the side and the knight let out a grunt of pain, but Yuri barely noticed. The guard he had shoved let out a shout as Yuri opened the heavy door, but Yuri didn’t listen. He could get out, and he could sneak in later and help Repede escape, or find and bring reinforcements. He just needed to get out first, because if not, he had a feeling he was in for a world of pain.

He turned around a corridor with no idea where he was going, and when he went to go around another corner, a pair of knights and a mage met him. He hissed, turning to run, but one of them reached out and snagged his hair. He was yanked back and the two knights grabbed him by the arms, holding him in place. A few moments later, the mage that had taken Repede appeared, a syringe in her hand. The knights moved to hold his arms in place, and she easily reached forward, holding his wrist steady as she injected him with some cold liquid. She didn’t inject much before she pulled it out, stepping back. “Let’s go,” she ordered before turning, stepping swiftly down the hallway.

He continued to struggle against his captors, but as time went on he found it difficult. His arms and legs felt heavier and he realized he’d been injected with a tranquilizer, albeit a light one. He hissed under his breath in apparent irritation and he leered at the back of the mage’s head. He was led into a room, his struggles becoming faint. He barely got a good look of the mid-sized room because his eyes were drawn to a rather large focal point. An operating table outfitted with thick leather restraints stood in front of him, and he didn’t feel at all at ease. He tried to struggle more, but his squirms were easily caught.

He was pressed down against the table on his back, and the knights didn’t waste any time into restraining him. The straps seemed quite a bit of overkill, considering his ankles, wrists, chest, torso and neck were all held firmly in place.

“Hello, Yuri Lowell,” said the woman, holding an empty syringe in her hand. It had an intimidatingly large needle, and though it was the least of his problems, Yuri never had and never would like the sight of a needle. He felt a bandage being wrapped around his arm tightly and spotted what he could only assume to be her assistant, and then he felt a cold, wet piece of cotton swab his skin. “Good to meet you. It’s been an interesting morning, hasn’t it?”

“Fuck you,” Yuri snarled, his voice more slurred than he would like it to be. “Fuck _all_ of you.”

“Well, that isn’t very nice,” she said, smiling. Her smile was hardly friendly, though, and it seemed more like the professional politeness a noble offered to another. It only raised his amounts of disgust. “I’m delighted to be working with you.” He felt the tip of the needle poke into his arm and she began to draw blood a moment later. He satisfied himself, at the moment, with simply glaring at her. He just wanted to punch her in her stupid smiling face. Did she _enjoy_ this? He wouldn’t be surprised.

She pulled the needle away and threw half of the syringe away, keeping the vial of blood she had extracted. She placed it into a small rack after penning a number onto it, right next to another vial. He could assume that it was Repede’s. His leer intensified. “You’re sick.”

“I assure you I am quite healthy,” she said, a hint of humor in her voice. She picked up some object from the table beside her and then she shone a bright light into his eyes. Her fingers moved to his lids to keep them open and he squirmed uncomfortably.

“What the hell are you doing?” he snapped, jerking his head away when she finished. His eye blinked rapidly to rid itself from the blurriness of adjusting.

“Just a routine check-up, that’s all. I’m sure you’re not used to them, what with your upbringing.” The smile never left her face. If anything, it may have twitched a bit wider. “Delmar, could you measure his height, please?”

The next few minutes went like a thorough check-up, and Yuri didn’t appreciate it in the slightest. He only visited the doctor once in a blue moon for several reasons, and being constantly poked and prodded was one of those reasons. They measured and checked everything he could think of and then some, and by the time they were done, the light dose of tranquilizer from earlier had worn off.

“Alright, I think he’s ready for the trial now,” the mage said. She pulled out another tray of empty syringes and a jar of clear liquid. “Are you ready to begin?”

“No!” said Yuri. He was ignored.

“Yes, ma’am,” replied the assistant. He was seated and a chart sat in front of him. He’d pulled out an inkwell and quill as well. “Ready when you are, ma’am.”

“What are you trying to get from me!? I don’t need to go through any trials!!” His voice was a touch more frantic than he would have liked it to be.

“Don’t worry. We just need some control data. That’s all.” She pressed down on the syringe, glancing at it carefully, before she stuck it through the top of the jar. She filled the syringe up to a specific point with the clear liquid and Yuri felt anxiety welling again within him, this time with renewed vigor. He wasn’t sure what the liquid was, but he had a feeling he was going to find out. And find out he did.

She leaned over, lining up the shot before she injected his veins with liquid hellfire. He let out a cry, unprepared for the white-hot agony that immediately met him. He tried to silence himself, which succeeded to a slight extent. Muffled moans of pain left him; he didn’t know he could _hurt_ this much. It felt like his whole body had been set ablaze in an instant, inside and out.

The pain seemed to go on for an eternity, and then he opened his eyes to blurry vision. He saw her near his arm again and felt the tiniest pinprick, and all the agony came rushing back, this time tenfold more than before. He let out a bloodcurdling scream and it dawned on him why there had been so many restraints, because he struggled roughly against them. Had they not been there, he wasn’t sure what he would have done. He attempted to divert his thoughts elsewhere, but it was useless. The fire burned everything else and firmly implanted itself at the forefront of Yuri’s mind, and it wouldn’t budge no matter how much he tried to think of something else.

He felt a third dose so distantly it felt like it was happening to someone else, but the pain certainly did not. He couldn’t think straight. In fact, he couldn’t think at all anymore. All that came to his mind was a mantra of _stop stop stop please make it stop make it stop make it STOP_. The liquid wrecked havoc on his nerves and he was powerless to stop it.

His voice broke on the fourth shot, his screams cracking and fading into horrified wheezing. It was too much, too fast, and his whole body trembled, completely overwhelmed. His breath came too quickly and his heart beat too fast, and that only accelerated the spread of the burning. It was too much and he was holding on by a thread. He couldn’t focus, couldn’t speak, couldn’t think. Nothing existed except the fire in his blood.

He only dimly felt the fifth, and he wasn’t sure if he screamed or not. If he did, he didn’t know if it was still audible. The agony turned his vision white, and it was more than he could handle. His head lolled back, and he was gladly tugged into a black, painless oblivion.


	2. Exhaustion

Water splashed against his face and he let out a gasping choke as some of it went down his throat. He’d been at this for what felt like hours, but there was going to be no escape short of someone reaching down to physically drag him out of the pit of water, and he knew in his current circumstances that wasn’t going to happen. His brain was fuzzy and he couldn’t quite think straight, but he knew that much.  _ No one was going to help. _

Not that there was no one there  _ to _ help him. He could, dimly, hear people talking, but he couldn’t make out who they were or what they were saying over the din of the splashing in his ears. He mentally damned them; why were they there, probably aware of his plight, but unwilling to help? Fuck them. He didn’t need them anyway, he could get out of here all on his own.

Except he couldn’t, because around him in the pit of water were towering concrete walls and he couldn’t hope to scale them without some miracle. He could feel the aches beginning to set into his joints and muscles as he fought to keep his head above water. A part of him thought to just give up, let himself sink and fade into darkness, but his instinct to survive overrode it. Not that the instinct was being too useful, because before long, without help, he was  _ going _ to sink.

And, inevitably, he did, though he struggled to keep himself aloft. The water closed over his face and he managed to fight his way back for a moment, coughing as it entered his mouth and nose. His fighting was in vain, however, and whilst he struggled for the relief of air, it wasn’t afforded to him. He sank at last, his body going limp with exhaustion water rushing into his nose and mouth as consciousness escaped him, enveloping him in constricting darkness.

“Four hours, thirty-six minutes. Hm, he’s declining… get him out.”

  
  


Brave Vesperia trudged through the dimly-lit insides of the Heracles, having waded through what seemed like an endless supply of guards. The control room had been well-barricaded, by magical means, but with a talented mage and a far-too-determined party, they were relatively easy to break. The final ward had been the most difficult, leading them across to the aft side, and by the time the party of four reached the control room near the bow, they were battered and tired.

Judith opened the door and stepped inside first, and her friends followed closely behind. The room was already inhabited, as apparently people had taken advantage of the final ward’s breaking to enter. Several of the inhabitants―knights―turned, spears and swords and shields rising in defense of the mage that leaned over the control panel. However, upon seeing who it was, they paused and glanced towards their captain, who had already turned to look up the newcomers that stood on the raised balcony.

Flynn Scifo stared at them for a moment, a litany of emotions crossing his eyes before he spoke. “So you’re the ones who broke through the defenses,” he said, eyeing them. There was something off, and he knew exactly what that thing was. It didn’t help that none of the four looked particularly happy at all at the moment. “Where is Yuri?”

Karol swallowed, giving an off glance towards Judith, and Raven shifted his weight lightly, grimacing. This concerned Flynn; if they had just said he’d gone off on his own, he wouldn’t have been surprised. Concerned, maybe, but not surprised. But this was… a less than favorable reaction.

“Well… we were hoping he’d be here,” Raven said, confusing Flynn even more.

His brow furrowed. “Why would Yuri be here?”

Judith was the one to answer his inquiry, with that eerily soft, calm intonation of hers. “He disappeared with Alexei at Baction. We thought he would be here.”

A curse left him in a soft, inaudible whisper, and he glanced towards the control panel before gesturing. “Mordio, can you help with this? We’ve been trying to crack the defenses and disable the Heracles, but it’s difficult.” Rita nodded. She didn’t like taking orders, but the time now was dire, and she hastened down the small flight of stairs. She pushed the other mage to the side, muttering something to him, and began to work as Flynn continued. “We’ve searched the Heracles up and down. Alexei isn’t here, and neither is Yuri―or Lady Estellise for that matter.” His frown was grave. “We have reason to believe he was never on the ship.”

“A decoy?” Judith murmured, and beside her, Raven grit his teeth, looking annoyed.

“Damn. I didn’t even know about this,” he said. “That bastard was trying to throw us off while he’s gone to do… whatever he’s trying to do with Estelle.”

“He didn’t even tell you…?” Karol asked, his voice soft.

“No, kid, sorry. He only told me what I needed ta know.”

Flynn’s confusion, apparently, had only grown since they had began talking amongst themselves. “Why would…?”

“It’s a long story,” Raven cut in, not having the energy nor the time to explain things. “Is there anything else you need to tell us?”

A brief pause reigned before Flynn nodded. “Yes. We have reason to believe he’s in Zaphias, with Lady Estellise―and, Yuri, I presume.” He grimaced. “One of his close… friends, Yeager, fled when we broke in, but he mentioned that first. He also said… that there was a secret to the Sword Stair. But we’re not sure what―”

The shrieking blare of an alarm cut him off and the control panels’ screens flooded with bright red light. The blastia lights that filled the room turned red as well, flashing in correspondence with the alarm.

“You idiot!” Rita snapped to the other mage over the din. “I told you not to― _ shit _ !” Her eyes sprang to the text that filled the screens and she turned to the party, just as a distant rumbling began beneath their feet. “The cannon’s set to fire! We need to go disarm it,  _ now _ , while it’s still powering up! Come on!”

“The cannon!?” Karol exclaimed. “There’s a cannon!?”

“Yes, and it’s going to go off if we don’t  _ hurry _ !” The fiery mage shoved past the knights in her way and raced up the stairs, slamming the door open before she sprinted out. “Come on, hurry up!” The remaining three did as told, running after her with the sound of Flynn’s commanding shouts to his knights fading away into the background. The rumbling, like that of a hungry beast, grew beneath their feet, and they sprinted down the vaguely-familiar paths, all the way down to the belly of the behemoth. The thick smell of smoke filled the air as they descended, until finally they reached the cannon room. Rita threw open the doors, wasting no time to charge past the pair of bewildered Royal Guards, and she ran right past them, up the stairs and to the main platform.

The mouth of the giant ship had opened, huge plates rolling apart to let the cannon’s fire past. The grumbling had reached almost a deafening volume, loud enough that Rita couldn’t hear the sounds of combat at the base of the steps, where the Royal Guards had been defending. She stopped in front of a tube of misty, glowing yellow light, where an apatheia floated. It was definitely a Hermes blastia―nothing else was strong enough to power such a ship, such a weapon―that powered this cannon and Heracles as a whole, and should it go off… well, there would be a  _ line _ on the map of places that had been blown to smithereens.

Without Dein Nomos―which, to be fair, they had, though Yuri was the only one that could use it with any efficiency―the blastia was going to be nigh impossible to stop. Even breaking it wasn’t sure to stop the cannon, because it had already, by the sound of it, strengthened to a considerable power. But, there was no other choice. It was now or never. “ _ Judith! _ ” she shouted, just as her three friends came running up the steps. She was the only one who had any experience with this. 

The krityan heard her name, though only barely, and nodded, readying her spear. Rita braced herself, taking a step back to cast a spell, and she molded the metal up from the ground and it slammed up into the reinforced glass of the tube. It shattered, though not without considerable effort, and a shockwave of released aer filled the room. Judith grit her teeth and fought through it, ignoring how the dense aer suddenly tried to shove her in the opposite direction like a strong gust of wind. She leaned forward and walked with heavy steps, like fighting through a fierce blizzard, before she thrust her spear forward into the apatheia with all the strength she could muster. It cracked with the force and she pressed further, and glowing green-blue light emitted from it.

There was a split second where everything seemed to slow, and some ethereal voice whispered to them briefly:  _ Thank you _ . And then the apatheia exploded, sending Judith reeling back several paces. She caught herself, not quite falling, but there was a bigger problem. The reverberations beneath their feet still had not stopped, and yet grew stronger, reaching its peak. Light began to gather at the mouth of the canon beneath them, and it was clear they had failed. Despite their efforts, Heracles was going to fire, and Zaphias was about to get wiped off the face of Terca Lumereis.

The ship suddenly yawed to the left, knocking them off their feet as Heracles grew imbalanced. The gargantuan ship tried to right itself, but again a weight slammed against it and it yawed again, further this time. Its port side slipped briefly into the water, and it began to right itself, but it didn’t have the time to take aim again. The cannon fired across the ocean, the sudden grumbling turning into a thunderous roar of pure, unadulterated  _ strength _ .

The cannon could only power itself for a few seconds, and the ship began to pitch backwards. It lost power and Heracles splashed back down into the water, rocking back and forth before it finally managed to mostly right itself. Finally, the four could stand again, and they caught their bearings as they looked out of the mouth of the ship to the carnage the weapon had done.

It had, luckily, missed the cities; the cannon’s fire cut cleanly into the landscape, only a raw valley left in its wake. It was lucky, but the stretch of land was terrifyingly barren. But it had missed civilization, and that was one thing they had going for them.

Judith was the first to completely regain her bearings. Her eyes closed and she shook her head before turning it, looking down towards the entrance of the cannon room. “We need to hurry,” she said quietly.

“R-right!” Karol agreed, tearing his eyes away from the wreckage. “We’ve got friends to rescue.”

  
  


The days all sort of ran together. He had no way to tell the time; the cells he and Repede had been confined to were lit by stark white blastia-powered lights that were never turned off, and when he led out of the room he was blindfolded, or drugged. His destinations never had windows, so he was never quite sure of the time. Even he had been, he had still been drugged on too many occasions, and he spent most of the rest of his time trying to catch fitful sleep.

A thick black collar had been fixed around both Repede’s neck and his own. A point on it glowed with a dim green light that slowly blinked. It was a shock collar, and it was just further insurance for the knights and mages. He’d tried fighting back once, after wearing it, and he’d been met with a dizzyingly powerful shock that had stunned him long enough for his captors to take advantage of it. He’d tried taking it off, though, but tampering with it only had met him with mild shocks and, after enduring them for a while, he gave up. It only furthered his helplessness, and it furthered just how  _ furious _ he was at the whole situation.

His eyes were closed behind the blindfold as he was half-led, half-dragged back to his prison, presumably by knights. He’d given up on trying to fight them; he needed to save his energy. Struggling to try and fight a battle he was sure he couldn’t win would end up with him exhausted, injured, and even more angry than before, so he let it be. He heard the heavy door close behind him with a slow thud, and then the familiar rattling of his own cell door being opened.

The blindfold was torn off his face and he was unceremoniously shoved into the cell. He staggered briefly before shooting a scathing glare towards the knights. They simply locked the cell before leaving the room entirely, leaving Yuri and Repede alone in a room full of white light and silence.

Yuri sighed and moved to sit against the bars beside Repede, who had barely reacted to Yuri’s return. Repede had obtained his own fair share of punishment from their captors; more, to an extent, because at least Yuri had a human face and it was easier to justify the beating of a dumb animal than to another, albeit lowly, human, though it was only marginally such.

Yuri reached through the bars, his fingers combing gently through Repede’s thin, coarse fur. Repede jumped initially at his touch, ears twitching back, and he turned his head a little to look at Yuri. Yuri frowned before closing his eyes, leaning against the bars. “I’m sorry, Repede,” he mumbled quietly, slowly petting him. He knew Repede was hurt just as much as he was; their captors didn’t rely on conventional tortures, but that didn’t mean their ‘experiments’ weren’t torturous nonetheless. It was frequent that he would pass out after sustaining too much of their twisted experiments, just to wake up some time later back in his cell, aching and exhausted. “I wish I could get us out of here, I really do. I’m sorry.”

He felt Repede move but he didn’t open his eyes. A moment later he felt a chilly wet nose nudge his cheek and his eyes opened. He tried and failed to force a smile as Repede let out a gentle whine. “I know, buddy. We’ll get out of this, alright? Together.” He’d said it before, but now… now it seemed more to convince himself than anyone else.

Repede nudged him again. 

At least he wasn’t alone.

  
  


At these heights, the wind was a constant, terrifying force ―at least, it was for most people. Alexei Dinoia did not particularly seem to mind. The only annoyance was brushing his hair out of his face so that he could focus on the issue at hand, of activating the Sword Stair. Beside him was the form of the princess, limp and suspended in a glowing orb of aer. Apatheia slowly orbited her prison, glowing gently. She barely seemed to be alive; but she was, and that was all that Alexei cared about at the moment.

He surveyed Zaphias. The whole city was aersick. A red tinge filled the skies, the barrier was distinctly missing, and the city had gone to ruin. Bold, enraged monsters padded the streets, fighting even occasionally each other, and the city had been overgrown with plants like that of Keiv Moc. It was a shame; it was―or, had been, at any rate―a beautiful, successful city. It was a shame such an effect had come over it, but alas. Sacrifices had to be made, and this was far from the first decision he had made. It was far from the most difficult, as well.

The sound of footsteps alerted him to the presence of newcomers, and he didn’t have to turn around to guess who it was. He let out a quiet sigh that was lost to the wind and turned.

They were so determined to end him and his plans, but they didn’t even know what they were trying to stop. How could they? Schwann was nothing more than a puppet―another of the sacrifices, unfortunately; he needed tools and there were unlucky souls that needed to be those―and the other three were children. Of course they couldn’t see what he was doing was beneficial; they saw the world only through their naivety. He was like that, once, and he had been dragged out of it, kicking and screaming. It seemed they would have to do the same.

“I cannot say I did not expect your return,” he said. His voice was level, revealing nothing.

The fiery-headed mage―Mordio was her name, he believed―glared and thrust an infuriated finger at him. “Let Estelle go right now, you bastard! Let her go or we’ll get her back ourselves, and you’re not going to like it!”

“Hm. Unfortunately, I can do neither of those things.” His gaze slid towards the princess. She had not reacted to any of the events about her. Her eyes were glassy and her expression neutral, and it was clear she was not all there at the moment. “She is quite powerful, an excellent tool. She’s quite crucial to my plans. At least, for now.”

“Don’t talk about her like she’s some thing! She’s not your plaything, asshole! Let her go!” He was surprised Mordio hadn’t made a move to attack yet, though all of them had weapons at the ready. Perhaps they were afraid of what he would do to the Lady; a fair assumption. At this point, she was just as useful as a bargaining chip (although the bargain was rather one-sided) as a tool of near unlimited power.

“Of course she is not a plaything,” he said evenly. His hand moved in a wide gesture and the princess was pulled forward to the center of the platform. “She has a very important, and very serious role. A far better role than she would play before. She will usher in a new light to the new world. You are simply blinded by your sentiments. I have looked beyond these; what is a handful of lives to the greater good, to the greater excellence of the Empire?”

Schwann narrowed his eyes, and this time it was he who spoke up. He drew back the arrow on the bowstring a bit more, tensing. “It’s not in yer place to choose, Alexei,” he said. “That’s someone else’s life yer playin’ with. Ya don’t get that choice. Ya know, it’s funny―I never hear all that from the one who’s ’bout ta get sacrificed, y’know?”

Alexei met his eyes. “Of course you would say so. I suppose I have lost another of my assets, haven’t I?”

The way Raven raised the bow―a slight movement, but a telling one nonetheless―told all. The next one to speak up was the strange krityan girl, her voice as neutral as Alexei’s. “What have you done with Yuri and Repede?”

He’d expected this question as much. “They are both alive. Although… I cannot vouch for the state of them.” He couldn’t. The pest and his dog would be well on their way to the facility right now, if not there already, but it would take time to hear word about him again. Unfortunately, ships were a rather slow way of sending messages.

The concern seemed to greatly intense among the party at his words. “What are you doing with them!?” Mordio snapped. Her rage, it seemed, was ever increasing.

“That is, regrettably, classified information that you need not know.” He sighed again. “Ah, well, anyway. It seems we will not be able see eye to eye. I expected as much; you are blinded by your emotions. But you have come this far.” A faint smile rose to his lips. “And you were quite helpful, occasionally, if being a nuisance of others. Allow me to show my appreciation; I will allow you to witness the fruition of my plan.”

He raised his hand and the princess let out a shrill scream, and the platform exploded with a tremendous light.

  
  


When Alexei escaped to the newly-risen Shrine of Zaude, he left Estelle behind; by his own admission, he had no more use for her. That did not mean, however, that he had just let her go; no, she was too far under his influence for that. For a time even after he had left, she attacked, though her movements were slow and jerky and not clearly all her own. What was her own, though, were her words ―“Kill me,” she whispered, “before I can hurt anyone else. Please.”

No one was willing to actually hurt her; at least, not harshly. One of Judith’s strikes slammed down too hard and Estelle let out a gut-wrenching cry, but it was then that Rita saw an opening and rather than cast, she lunged forward, knocking Estelle’s sword away and pushing her down to the ground. She pinned her there as best as she could, and held her there, staring into her faraway blue-green eyes. 

“Estelle!” she shouted, grabbing her and shaking her lightly by the shoulders. “Come back, Estelle. You can’t leave us! You have to get past what he did―you’ve got to keep living. You’re not his tool! Don’t let him  _ use  _ you!”

Something cracked in her distant gaze and it focused just a bit. She didn’t struggle, but it took her a moment to speak. “I…” she whispered, “...I want… to keep living.”

“Then keep living, Estelle! You’re strong―you can do this!”

“I―I want to keep on living. For―for  _ you _ , all of you―and I want to be  _ myself _ !” Her voice cracked, but so did her expression, and she gasped, coming back to complete consciousness. Rita and Estelle made eye contact, staring at each other for a moment, before Estelle tightly embraced her. “Th-thank you,” she mumbled, eyes closing. “Thank you so much, all of you―I’m so sorry for what I’ve done!”

“You’ve done nothing,” said Judith, having walked over. She knelt down as Rita shifted to move off of Estelle, giving her room. “Alexei was controlling you. You’re not responsible for any of that.”

“Yeah!” agreed Karol, with as much enthusiasm as usual. “You’re you again, and that’s the most important part! He’s not going to be able to hurt you anymore.”

Estelle smiled, joyful tears pricking her eyes, before suddenly her expression went from relieved and joyful to dreading concern. “Yuri,” she whispered, which easily captured the attention of the assembled group.

“Do you know anything about him, Estelle?” asked Rita.

Estelle thought for a long moment before nodding slowly. “I remember―I remember Alexei sending him and Repede off after we disappeared. He sent them to a―to some kind of research facility, I don’t know. It was… out west, I think. It’s a private one. And―and they said he was going there.” Her breath was shaky and she swallowed hard. “I don’t know what they’re doing to them. Oh, they could be in so much trouble!”

The expressions of her friends were troubled and they exchanged glances, not really sure what to do with the situation. Finally, Raven spoke up.

“We should find somewhere t’ rest, ’n then we’ve gotta go after Alexei. In the meantime… I’ll get ahold of Flynn. I’m sure he’s gonna want to help search for Yuri as much as he can, and he’s got th’ manpower t’ do it.”

Estelle nodded. “That sounds like a good idea.”

  
  


Yuri had fallen asleep leaned against the bars, his hand still entrenched in Repede’s fur, but he woke up on instinct when he heard the familiar heavy creak of the door opening. It was slower than usual, though, and he looked up. He didn’t see the usual entourage of knights that was there to escort he or Repede out to one of the other facilities. Instead, it was a lone mage. He closed the door quietly―as quietly as the heavy thing could―before he stepped forward.

The man was lanky and tall, with short, ruffled red hair and misshaven, youthful face, but the thing that surprised Yuri the most was the guilty look in his eye. He glanced around conspiratorially before making eye contact with Yuri. “I’m going to help you get out,” he said slowly, reaching into the breast pocket of his coat to pull out a set of keys. “I’ll tell you the way out, but, please, be quick about it. I can’t have anyone knowing I helped you.”

Yuri and Repede had both gotten to their feet and they exchanged a quick glance, mutually confused. Yuri voiced the question that hung rather obnoxiously in the air. “And you would do that… why?”

“I… felt bad,” he said. “We were just going to run some basic experiments, but… I never expected it to go this far.” The guilt on his face increased even further. Guilt for what, Yuri wandered? Guilt for betraying his comrades or guilt for what they’d done to Repede and himself? He didn’t make an assumption, saying nothing as the man struggled with the keys. He found the right one and twisted it in the cell’s lock, and the door creaked open. Yuri had never before been so hopeful to hear that sound.

He stepped out, and to his surprise, he was not attacked, drugged, blindfolded, or anything of a similar manner. The mage’s gazed flickered to him occasionally as he unlocked Repede, which was understandable. Yuri probably wouldn’t trust someone who’d been tortured by his friends to just stand there and wait without exacting revenge. At least, it seemed, they weren’t  _ all _ rotten to the core. Just… brainwashed.

When Repede’s door had been opened, the mage turned and spoke quickly to Yuri. “You’re going to have to go fast,” he said. “It’s after-hours, so there’s not a whole lot of people here besides a little security, but once they find out you’re missing they’re going to hunt you two like dogs―” He paused, glancing at Repede, and continued, “―no offense meant.” He proceeded to explain the way out of the facility, and then had uttered a final, “Good luck!” before ushering them on. Yuri and Repede wasted no time; though they were both still tired and aching from injuries, some old and some new, the adrenaline and hope that they might  _ finally  _ be getting out of this wretched place was terribly exciting. They set off slowly, however, following the directions they had been given as quietly and as stealthily as possible. There weren’t many guards and the few remaining weren’t terribly troublesome. With, as compared to what Yuri had expected, relative ease, they reached the front doors of the facility, and Yuri threw them open.

Fresh air hit him, invigorating him even more. It was nighttime and he’d been so used to the constant white light of his cell that he could barely see anything beyond the light that bled from the building’s windows, but it was a change and he felt  _ amazing _ . He felt free; he wasn’t just yet, but he was so close.

Yuri and Repede tore away as fast as they could, heading north into the trees, and by the time his eyes had adjusted, the sky had been filled with the leafy branches of the forest. The early fog of the time right before dawn had set in, and the air was chilly, but it was fresh, free air and it seemed to energize the both of them. As they ran, Yuri thought about all the ways he could bring down this place when he got back to his friends, and then suddenly the ground rushed up to meet his face.

Tripping, however, was the last of his problems; it was what had made him trip that was the real issue at hand. The collar’s light had gone red, and it delivered a rather steady stream of electric agony. His fingers rose, trying to tear the blasted thing off, but it was in vain. His muscles seized as electricity coarsed through him and an uncomfortable warmth had risen around the overworked collar. In the distance, he could hear Repede’s yelps , and Yuri could infer why .

In the distance he heard barking, though he could barely register it. By the time the collar’s punishment had begun to fade away, he could hear the sounds of footfalls and voices nearby. He struggled to his feet, intent on running again; he couldn’t stay here,  _ he couldn’t _ . He ran to Repede’s side, because the dog hadn’t quite recovered just yet, and tried to help him to his feet. They needed to get out, now. His thoughts went back to the mage who had let them out; had he told them what he had done? Was this all some cruel game?

Repede got to his paws and they set off again, both at a far slower and shakier gait than before, but it wasn’t enough this time. They were easily caught up to, and when Yuri realized they were surrounded, both of them tried fighting. They were already weakened, though, and Yuri was unarmed, and they were quickly bested (though Yuri did take some pride in at least taking one of them down with him).

They were both captured and rather roughly bound. The knights rather roughly led them out of the forest. Yuri stared at the distant lights of the building with growing trepidation. Every fibre of his being wanted to stay as far away as he could from it already, and he couldn’t imagine what would happen at this point. Would the ‘experiments’ grow even more punishing in nature? Of course they would; this just showed how awfully cruel his captors were willing to be. If he was going to get them out, it was going to have to be entirely alone. He couldn’t trust anyone here other than Repede and himself.

As he was led out of the forest, he couldn’t help but to look up and what he saw shocked him, though he knew why he hadn’t noticed it before. Stretched across the sky was some gigantic, undulating violet cord. It cut across like a wound, rending the very sky itself. An echo of memory flashed in his mind; he remembered the mural and the story from the krityan elder of Myorzo.

“The Adephagos,” he whispered beneath his breath, and then they entered the building.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beginning scene was inspired by Plague Dogs! Fun times.
> 
> Thanks for reading this far if you have! <3


	3. Chapter 3

Two weeks after his attempted escape, Yuri sat by the corner with Repede, as he often did. He stared at the floor of their shared prison. One hand was in Repede’s fur, as it so often was. It scratched slowly and mindlessly. Yuri stared quietly for a long time before he sighed, closing his eyes. He leaned his head against the solid wall behind him. This was it, wasn’t it? He didn’t want to lose hope, he really didn’t. But what could they do? Escape was hopeless. All that was left for them was a world of pain until the researchers didn’t want them anymore, and then… he expected he knew what would happen at that point. They would get thrown away, just as any tool would that had outlived its use.

He didn’t like how much he thought about that. Honestly, he hoped it would happen soon. A part of him  _ wanted _ to be thrown away by these people; at least that meant no more days of pain in front of him. But he didn’t feel like that was going to happen anytime soon.

When the door slammed open, he flinched, eyes closing. He didn’t look up to see who it was immediately, but he finally did when he heard multiple sets of footsteps. Several knights had entered the room, followed by a pair of mages. While the knights’ helmets obscured their expressions, the mages looked uncertain and almost frightened.

The doors to their cells were unlocked. Repede snarled weakly, and he almost tried to fight back, but he was easily grabbed and pulled away. Yuri was taken next, and he didn’t bother putting up much of a fight. It only got him pain and exhausted him even more. What was the point in it?

The curious thing was, though, that they had never been taken together before. Usually it was one at a time, as they went to suffer the same thing the previous had. This curiosity led to even more fear, and as they were led through the facility, they found themselves descending. The building seemed to be in somewhat of a tizzy from what Yuri could see, like ants that had just been unearthed. He heard snatches of conversation from passing mages―“city in the sky” and “Alexei” and “the end”―and his curiosity only grew stronger. What had been happening in the outside world? He didn’t even know how long it’d been since he’d been tossed in this hellhole of a research laboratory.

The other thing he noticed were the stares. Many passing mages didn’t just glance at them; they stopped to watch them pass by. The only thing he could see in common was the unease in their expressions.  _ I don’t know what’s happening to them, _ he thought,  _ but it serves them right, whatever it is _ .

Finally, they descended into the lowest quarters of the facility. The hallways down there were dimly lit by torches on the verge of going out, with the exception of one room. The room that they entered.

They stepped inside. It was a large, cavernous room, circular in shape and lit by blastia lights. Five daises surrounded the circular middle, and on each of the daises stood a short lectern with sheets of paper on it. The middle of the room was the most eye-catching, though, because around it a cage had been put in place. It had a single entrance with a heavy lock attached to it, and like their cells, the bars were thin enough that slipping through wasn’t going to be doable. Beneath the circular cage, and, as he noticed, on each of the daises’ platforms, was a runic circle, much like that of one that appeared beneath Rita’s feet when she cast a spell. At the center of each of these runic circles was a blastia.

He didn’t want to fuck with magic. He  _ really _ didn’t want to fuck with magic, especially when he had no idea what it would do or how it was going to be used. Yuri hesitated, but he didn’t have much of a choice.

The door was unlocked and he was tossed in. Repede was pushed in second, and let go. The door slammed heavily behind them both, and Yuri looked worriedly at his friend. This was going to be bad. He could feel it, and it scared the shit out of him.

The two mages scampered off for a few minutes, and when they returned, there were three others with them. One was dressed far more ornately than the others, and he walked to the dais directly in front of the cage. The man looked down at the two and smiled. It was confident, but it was hiding something behind it. Perhaps the same unease that the other mages hinted at. Clearly, something was wrong. Very, very wrong―and when things were wrong for these mages, things were going right for Yuri. Although… at this particular moment, not so much.

“You’ve done well so far,” the mage said, before he sighed. “Regrettably, our commandant has passed away. However, that does not mean it is our time to stop, as well. We are simply on a… shorter schedule than we were originally planning to have.”

“What are you going to do to us?” Yuri quietly broke in.

“Well…” he held onto the word for a long moment. “Let’s just say you will both come out of it…  _ together _ . You will be much stronger than before. Enhanced, one might say. And I assure you, it will hurt. Incredibly. But, it is a small price to pay for the strength that you will obtain.”

Yuri’s skin crawled. It didn’t seem right. “Why me?”

“Hm. That is a good question. Unfortunately, the one who gave the original orders is dead,” he said. “So I do not think you will get a good answer for it. Anyways, anyways.” He waved his hand dismissively. “We must begin. As I said, we are running on a short schedule and all that.” He cast a glance about to his fellow mages, and they returned nods as he locked eyes with them. “We shall begin. You may want to sit down; this will hurt.”

He closed his eyes and began to mutter. The circle in front of him lit up, and a long line drawn from the blastia in his platform to the one beneath Yuri and Repede’s feet began to glow. So did the blastia. As the other mages joined in, lines from their platforms sprung to life as well, until all five had met at the blastia in the middle of the cage. Yuri felt the hair on his skin rising as the electric mix of aer and magic filled the air around him. He glanced at Repede, his anxiety threatening to boil over, and then the first arc of pain hit him.

It turned out that the mage had not been lying when he said it would hurt. The whole circle beneath his feet glowed, and he heard a whimpering bark beside him. He wasn’t the only one feeling like this it seemed. He glanced up, eyes flickering to the mages. They didn’t seem to react to their pain in the slightest.  _ Heartless bastards _ , he thought, and then a pulse of magic hit him. It felt like a needle had just pierced his entire body and it was nearly strong enough to knock him off his feet. His eyes closed and his breathing quickened. Everything was going to be alright. This was going to make him stronger, right? Then―then he could escape. And he could take Repede with him.

Their chanting got louder and the magic got stronger. It was a steady stream of pain now, not occasional pulses, and it felt like he was getting ripped apart at the seams. He staggered forward before he fell to his knees. The pain from the impact of his knees on stone was like a pinprick as compared to the agony that tore through his body. It only increased and a cry was dragged from his throat. His muscles seized and he felt to his hands and knees, vision blurring and going dark around the edges. The light from the circle began to blind him from just how bright it was. Even when his eyes closed, he could still see the light through his eyelids, and it was burned into his retinas. Agony twisted through him again and the sensation of being torn apart piece by piece came again and he screamed. The agony grew stronger, overtaking and overwhelming him, and the light enveloped both of the victims. Above it, the chanting of the mages continued unceasingly.

Yuri didn’t know how long he managed to keep hold of consciousness. Much like his first day in this cursed place, the onslaught of torturous, stabbing pains wouldn’t leave. It ripped and tore at him, and his only solace was the darkness that began to cover his vision. At some point in the spell, he collapsed, and he did not last much longer before he fell unconscious, and everything―pain, thought, awareness, all―disappeared.

  
  


Estelle stood at an ornate door. She glanced at a grand clock that was mounted at a nearby archway. It was half past midnight, but she could still see the flicker of a flame beneath the door. She raised her hand and carefully knocked. She got no immediate response, and she hoped briefly that her assumptions had been wrong. Just to make sure, though, she knocked again, slightly quieter than before. This time, she heard a voice from inside. “Come in.”

She opened the door to Flynn’s office. For that moment she had hoped that he was getting some rest, even if it meant he’d fallen asleep on his desk. However, he was awake (although, by the general state of him, not by much). He looked wretched; his hair was messier than usual, his eyes were dark and there were prominent bags beneath them. Flynn looked exhausted, and he frowned when he looked up at Estelle. “Lady Estellise….” he said slowly. “What are you doing here at this time of night?”

Estelle frowned right back at him. “I could ask you the same,” she said, gently closing the door behind her. She sat down in a chair in front of his desk and pulled it up close, so that she could lean against it. “Flynn… you need to get some sleep.”

“Of course. I will, I just… need to get through this last stack.” There were several stacks of paper around him. Estelle had a feeling he’d been telling himself that, but the ‘last stack’ kept switching to a different stack. “Do you need anything?”

“No. I was just checking up on you,” she said. She glanced down to the paperwork he had been reading through and signing. She could see how troubled his face was, and it concerned her even more. Silence fell over them for quite a long time before she spoke again. “...Flynn….”

He glanced up again. “Yes, Lady Estellise?” The weariness in his voice was scarcely covered by the professional tone.

She pouted. “Why do you have to call me that, Flynn? I don’t go around calling you Commandant Scifo all the time. You don’t have to speak to me all professional, especially in private.”

A small, forced smile found its way to his lips. “A force of habit I’d rather not lose,” he said. “It could be disastrous for people to think I’m disrespecting the princess. You know that.”

She sighed. “Still.” Again, quiet. She glanced around to the room, frowning. The place was messier than usual, just like Flynn’s hair. That was saying something, because even though his desk frequently looked like it had been the victim of a very small tornado, the rest of his office was usually very clean and organized. “Tell me what’s bothering you. Please, Flynn.”

“Nothing’s bothering me. I’m just doing a bit of overtime.” He answered too quickly. Flynn was terribly bad at lying.

“You’re in nearly eight hours overtime, Flynn.”

“Yes, well, I… I have to finish this. Ahem―may I ask, why are  _ you _ up at such an hour?”

She paused. She would tell him the truth, at least. If nothing else, perhaps it would persuade him to tell his own truths. “I was up thinking about Yuri,” she said softly, “and Repede. And… I was worried you would still be up, so… I came to check on you. I know you’re trying to work yourself to death every free moment you get.”

His quill slowed and stopped at the end of his signature. He stared at the paper for a long moment before he sighed. He carefully put the quill into the inkwell, but left it there, and he picked up the paper to place it on the stack of completed paper. Then he sighed, leaned forward, and rubbed his face with his hands. Estelle watched him closely, her frown deepening.

“I have… been thinking about him a lot, too,” he mumbled. “Both of them. I….” His voice trailed off into silence and he ran his fingers through his hair. Estelle had never seen him looked so exhausted in her life. “...I don’t know what to do. It’s been months since he disappeared. I don’t want to think it, but…” He swallowed hard and hesitated a long moment. “I―I don’t know if he’s coming back or not. And there’s so many other things―gods, I―I didn’t know being commandant would be like… like  _ this _ . I want to find him but―but there’s so _ much _ I have to do and I can’t spare all my resources to look for him. I want him to come back, gods know I do, but―I don’t know if he  _ is _ . I only have so much time…!”

She’d figured as much, but listened patiently to his stressed words. “We’re all still looking, Flynn,” she said, trying to reassure him. “We’re all still looking. With all of us… I’m sure we’ll find him. I mean… he’s Yuri. He’ll show up eventually, right…?”

Flynn didn’t answer.

“...Come on, Flynn. You need to get some sleep. How can we expect the commandant to do his duty well if he’s sleep deprived?”

He looked up. “I….”

“Come on. I’ll walk you home, alright?”

He sighed. No matter how tired the both of them were, he wasn’t going to win an argument with Estelle and both of them knew it.

“Just this last stack.”

He opened his eyes, but it hurt. Everything was dark and blurry and everything hurt. It was so hard to think, and his mind could barely focus on anything. As he slowly became aware, he could feel cold on his left side. It was very cold, uncomfortably cold. He wanted off of the cold thing. So he moved, or at least he tried to.

Upon trying to stand, he very quickly understood that moving fast hurt bad, and moving at all only hurt slightly less so. So he lay against the cold thing, because at least it didn’t hurt. A whine left him and he blinked several times. Maybe that had been just a one-time thing. So he tried again to stand.

This time he got a little further, but it still hurt. Maybe if he got up it would stop the cold and stop the pain, though, so he kept trying. With considerable difficulty and considerable pain, he got to his feet. He could see weird lines, and he took a step closer, leaning forward. His nose bumped against one of them and he realized they were solid bars. They were very narrow. He would not get out this way.

Out. That thought, that brought some recognition. Out would be good. Out would mean he would not hurt, and there would be no cold things, yes? He stood there, staring at the bar that his nose had touched. He could not get out with this in the way. If it were not in the way, he could get Out. That made sense. But how would he move it away? He leaned against it, testing its strength.

It did not bend. He would not break it that way. So, he tried another way. He tried pushing it. He raised his hands slightly, though the angle was uncomfortable, and he tried pushing them down. They did not budge. Alright, it would not come down that way, either. Next.

He opened his mouth, grabbing the bar between his teeth, and leaned back and pulled. He pulled and pulled and pulled and was sure he was getting somewhere when his feet slid out from beneath him and he let go of the bar. He was sent tumbling back and he yelped as fresh pain met him. He was laying back against the cold thing and everything hurt again. Why did it hurt? He was not injured. Was he?

He would not feel this way if he were Out. He needed to get Out.

Out, Out, Out.

  
  


It was very early in the morning, and Flynn was quite tired. He hadn’t gotten any rest at all. Well, to be fair, it depended entirely on how one would define ‘rest’. Typically, though, passing out in drunken stupor wasn’t considered rest.

Flynn didn’t drink often. He didn’t particularly like the taste of alcohol. But, sometimes, it was late at night and there were things you needed to forget, and that was when alcohol was as good as anything. He barely remembered last night, mostly because it was hard to remember or think of anything at the moment, but he did remember pulling out a bottle of whiskey that had been a gift from… someone, he also didn’t remember who. It was strong, though, and strong was exactly what he needed at the moment. He also remembered, unfortunately, what set him off on his quest to give himself the worst hangover imaginable, which had been the whole point of drinking, and yet there it was. 

Yuri and Repede had been missing for four months. Alexei had died three months ago. Tarqaron had fallen two months ago. And it had been three weeks since he’d sent out a search party for his two missing friends.

It was understandable, to a point. Things kept piling up one after another. For the first month they had been missing, he’d spared no expense in sending out those he could afford to search for him. When Estelle came to and told him to look for some remote research facility, he’d been able to narrow down his searching, and he had continued as strongly as he could. After Alexei’s death, though, he was beginning to get bogged down with work. He had to oversee the arrests and warrants of much of the royal guard and many of Alexei’s other conspirators. He had to deal with the panic that ensued after the Adephagos emerged, and cleaning up Zaphias was difficult in its own right. Not to mention all of this had to be done with the newfound problem that was the Council looming down at him, and a military that had practically been cut in half by Alexei’s coup.

As time went on, he’d been swamped with more and more work and, while Yuri was still on his mind, he didn’t have the manpower nor the time to send out even more parties. The situation had only worsened with Tarqaron’s rise, and when the blastia disappeared completely… by that point, Yuri only crossed his mind when he lay awake on sleepless nights. Yesterday had been one of those nights, but it’d hit a lot harder than usual then. And it was still hitting hard now.

He was in his living room, but the curtains were drawn and there wasn’t a light on at all. He lay on the couch, his eyes closed and occasionally sipping an ice-cold glass of water. Today was his day off, luckily, and he was going to relish it in darkness, silence, and apparently with a stabbing headache.

_ Wonderful. _

He didn’t keep track of time as he lay there. It was perhaps a few more hours before he heard a knock on his door. His eyes opened and he let out a soft groan. Maybe it would go away if he just….

_ Knock. Knock. Knock. _

Alright, maybe not. He sighed, standing. He carded his fingers through his hair to try and straighten up just a little bit so he didn’t look like a total wreck to whoever it was. He heard the knock again and uttered a half-hearted, “I’m coming,” before he strode to the door and unlocked it, looking down at the stranger before him. This stranger was a postman and he held a few pieces of mail in his hands. Flynn took a glance at him, the mail, and then at his mailbox near the cobblestone streets. “...Thank you,” he said, taking them, “although… I do have a mailbox.”

“I’m aware, sir, very sorry,” the postman responded with a respectful nod. “But one of these messages were specified to be delivered straight to your hands. The plain envelope, I believe, sir. We take these requests very seriously, especially for such a recipient. Have a good morning, sir.”

“...Thanks. You too,” Flynn mumbled, looking down at the handful of mail. He didn’t particularly feel like reading right now, but it seemed someone had sent this urgently. He closed the door and walked past his living room, up the steps. His head seemed to pound uncomfortably at the cadence of his steps and it made him groan softly. He reached his study and lit a candle, because he wasn’t quite ready for the light of day. He sat at his desk, picking up a sharp letter opener and slicing open the top of the plain envelope that the postman had indicated.

Inside was a simple sheet of parchment, folded into fourths. He unfolded it, placing down the envelope and letter opener, and read it by the light of the candle.

_ Commandant Flynn Scifo― _

_ Consider this message from a reliable source; _

_ I have seen him myself, and know what you seek. _

_ I know where your friends are located. _

_ To the West of the Niffel Lake of Yurzorea. _

_ His home is in the mountains; do hurry. _

_ If you are not quick, he will suffer, and perhaps die. _

_ He is alone. I’m sorry. _

_ ―J _

Flynn stared wordlessly at it for a long moment. Yurzorea, west of the Niffel Lake. He had ordered men to scout Yurzorea, but it was a vast continent and nearly completely uninhabited. Of course they could have overlooked a well-disguised hideout. His breath caught and suddenly the headache, while still very much there, was no longer at the forefront of his mind.

“I need to get dressed,” he whispered to himself. He had no time to waste; for the first time in four months, he had a lead. He wasn’t about to let it go to waste. It may be too good to be true, as some cynical, pessimistic part of him muttered, but it was worth trying.

Flynn had employed the help of Judith and Ba’ul after explaining the letter he’d obtained. They were all, reasonably, skeptical, but were equally hopeful. It was worth a try, and Flynn just couldn’t let a lead like this go. So they set off, a very small squadron of knights going with them.

They were all terribly impatient, but Flynn was the most. He spent most of his time on the Fiertia’s upper deck, glancing across the ship’s railing to the land below. It almost made him a bit sick to see how fast they were moving and how high up they were, but it also reassured him.  _ If you are not quick, he will suffer, and perhaps die. _ The letter’s words echoed ominously in his head. They needed to hurry, or else... or else Yuri wouldn’t be there even if the lead  _ were _ true.

It took four days to reach Yurzorea. Finding a place to land well was another difficult one. Yurzorea was covered in mountains and pines, and terrain that generally did not lend for the landing of a ship. They settled on getting as low as they could before using the ladder to get down. One simply had to be very careful to not make a misstep, or else they had a very long fall awaiting them.

Flynn was anxious when he got to the bottom. He’d been followed by his knights, Estelle, and Rita. Judith and Karol were all remaining on the ship. Judith was communicating with Ba’ul, Karol was terrified of what they may find and everyone agreed it was best the kid stayed in the ship. Flynn had originally wanted Rita to stay in the ship as well, for reasons not unlike Karol’s, but their raid was on a research facility and trying to stop Rita from going was like trying to stop an unstoppable force. It simply wasn’t going to happen, so she came as well.

They wandered for a few hours through the trees, going east towards the mountains that surrounded the lake, and it was noon when they found the worn old path that led up to the facility. It was slowly becoming overgrown, but it was noticeable as compared to the thick vegetation elsewhere, and it led them right to to their target.

The building was, admittedly, well hidden. Hewn into the mountain’s face and in a crevice between two of the peaks gave the building good natural camouflage. The only park that sprung out from the rock face was the color of stone and the texture was uneven, and even moss and lichen grew on it in some places. It was no wonder his men hadn’t found it; they would have had to be looking for a particular spot in mind to notice this.

Flynn’s shield and blade were at hand as he led the way, opening the door. It squeaked and disturbed a bit of dust beneath it, which went flying into the air. It was dim inside, the only light coming from the small windows. The main room seemed to be some sort of sitting room and it was dark and shady, and the layer of dust over everything told him that it had been abandoned for quite a while. He gestured towards his companions to enter as all seemed safe for the moment. He reached down to light and open the hooded lantern at his hip. Light spilled out around him, keeping the immediate darkness at bay as he walked forward. 

The door slammed shut behind them. Or at least, behind a couple of them. A pair of knights had been able to enter, as had Estelle, but something had closed the door. Or rather, some _ thing _ .

Whatever it was, it wasn’t alone. There were two. One was closing the doors, and another shoved a length of wood through the handles, preventing it from being immediately opened. The lantern light reflected off of their eyes, glinting in the dimness as they turned to stare at the newcomers. One of them spoke in a warped voice.

“ _Meat_ ,” it muttered simply, and then it lunged towards one of the knights with a speed that was almost inhuman. For a moment, it caught in the light. It was a gargantuan thing, with a body that resembled, vaguely, a large wildcat. Coarse, thin fur covered its body, and its teeth, sharp and white, glinted briefly in the lantern light. And then it made impact.

The knight shouted as he was bowled off his feet. The cat-monster let out a snarling yowl and it barely seemed to notice the swipes of the sword as the knight beneath it tried to throw it off or persuade it off via sword (a what would be, in other situations, very convincing argument). It cut its own yowl off, biting down into the knight’s neck. This all happened in the span of a few seconds, and by that time, the shock and horror had faded away. Flynn was infuriated; this monster, whatever it was, had just killed one of  _ his  _ knights. He lunged forward, swiping at the monster. His blade simply caught air, though, as the creature evaded him. It was fast, that was for sure.

The second monster, this one more reptilian in nature, lunged for Estelle, but she raised her shield at the last moment and its claws dug into the metal of the shield instead of her.

The remaining knight moved to assist Estelle, flanking the creature as best he could manage. His blade managed to catch the creature’s side; it did not seem as agile as the cat, but its hide was a lot tougher than the cat’s, too. The blade only sunk in a few centimeters before the creature turned. It spat before it grabbed the knight and tossed him to the ground. He stepped forward, intending to finish this one off, too, when suddenly light filled the whole room in time with Estelle’s cry of, “Photon!” The reptilian creature was thrown to the side, dazed by the light, and Estelle lunged forward, piercing it with her rapier.

The creatures proved themselves to be rather formidable opponents. The reptilian creature fell first; Estelle and the knight flanked it, drawing up cuts and slashes from both sides. Its hide was hard, but having a tough skin could only do so much against the blows of swords from experienced fighters. A break in his guard was all it took before Estelle delivered the final blow, her sword piercing the creature’s chest.

Flynn was having a bit more difficulty on his end. The cat-like monster was fast and easily evaded many of his strikes, while its own were fast and sudden and many Flynn only barely blocked with his shield. The creature backstepped, strode a few quick paces to the side before it suddenly pounced at Flynn. He hadn’t been expecting it, nor the weight that was behind it, and even though he raised his shield to block the attack, he was still flung back. He nearly lost his footing, and the creature lunged again, this time knocking him completely off his feet. It leaned over him, snarling. It raised a hand and its claws swiped down, digging into Flynn’s raised shield with an unsettling screech, and it snarled again, low and angry, “ _ Hungry _ ,” before it moved to snap at Flynn’s neck just as it had the other poor knight.

A heavy sword cut into the creature’s side; the other knight had moved to help Flynn. The creature yowled, drawing back, and it went after him. Fortunately, with the three of their strength’s combined, the creature fell, leaving the remaining combatants panting. The encounter had certainly been… unexpected, and it was good it didn’t go worse, although… with the death of one of their companions already, it could have gone a lot better, too.

The surviving knight walked up to the doors and pulled the planks holding them shut aside. The doors opened and new light spread throughout the room, illuminating the two bodies well. They were appalled by what they saw before them.

The creatures wore a uniform. Not just any uniform, but the distinct red of the royal guard. At least, the royal guard uniform when Alexei was in power. Their armor had, apparently, been lost or taken off (or it simply couldn’t fit, given both of their statures). The cat-creature was covered in fur, and though its face was vaguely humanoid, it was also uncomfortably  _ not _ . The same went with the reptilian creature, although it seemed far more ‘reptile’ than ‘humanoid’. They weren’t like any monsters any of them had seen before, even Rita or Estelle. Another thing they both noticed were how uncomfortably thin the creatures. It unsettled them, a bit, to think that they were likely far from the peak of their strength in their fight.

That was only the first round of confusion they experienced that day.

They descended into the darkness, their weapons at the ready and guards up. The groups split up eventually; half of the accompanying knights went with Rita (which, at first, she was against, but neither Flynn nor Estelle would let her explore this place all on her own). She was going to explore the current level, while Flynn, Estelle, and the rest of the knights would descend to the lower levels to search there.

Flynn put his sword away and pulled the lantern from his belt to lift it in the air as they walked, trying to see as much in the constricting surrounding darkness as he could. The corridors were rather long, and on both sides were doors. Occasionally they were locked, and the ones that they could enter were fairly empty. Many only had basic furnishings, like tables and chairs, sometimes cabinets. The cabinets were mostly empty, with the only exception being when Flynn tossed one open and a large black rat scurried out, thoroughly unsettling even him more than he already had been.

They had taken up to splitting up quite often; Flynn went on the rooms in the left, Estelle the ones on the right. They made a great deal of progress, only if because there was nothing of use, at least in the first few rooms. Flynn’s hope was beginning to dwindle; if the place had already been scrubbed clean of anything useful, what were the chances that Yuri was here? And if he was, there was a chance he wasn’t even alive. His hand rested on a doorknob and he hesitated. With every door he opened to an empty room, there was a smaller and smaller hope that he would find Yuri inside. He sighed; he had to keep going, and he started to open the door, when he heard Estelle gasp behind him.

He turned. She had opened a door a few feet to his right, and was staring inside with a shocked look on her face. She lowered her lantern slightly before she glanced back at Flynn, the look on her face deeply uncomfortable. “...Flynn,” she whispered.

Flynn’s hand left the doorknob and he walked to her side and then past her. He took only a single step into the room until he froze. The first thing he noticed was the smell of rot that hit him in the face. And then… the  _ sight _ .

It was a large, cavernous room, circular in shape and dark. Five daises surrounded the circular middle, and on each of the daises stood a short lectern with sheets of paper on it. The middle of the room was the most notable, though, because around it a cage had been put in place. It had a single open entrance with a heavy lock attached to it. Beneath the circular cage, and on each of the daises’ platforms, was a runic circle, much like that of one that appeared beneath Rita’s feet when she cast a spell.

The most eye-catching thing, though, was that the body that lay in the midst of the cage. Not quite a body, really. ‘Body’ would imply that it was in one piece, and it was most certainly not. Instead, there were  _ pieces _ of a body―two, actually, from what it seemed. Flynn dared to take a step closer and his lantern’s light flickered off of the old, congealed blood that partially concealed the circle; evidently, it had come from the bodies. He felt suddenly nauseated and took a step back, swallowing hard. He was a soldier and, sure, he’d seen things, but this… this was another matter entirely.

One of the bodies seemed to be a human―probably a woman from what he could see from where he stood, which brought a bit of relief of  _ thank the gods it’s not Yuri _ , and the other seemed to be some mammalian animal. He couldn’t tell what exactly.

He stepped out of the room, shaking his head. It was the first thing they’d found, and it didn’t bode well for his nerves at all. Estelle, from what he could tell of her expression, was thinking similar thoughts.

“Let’s… continue,” he muttered. “Maybe we’ll find something on… what happened there.”

They were only a few more steps down when they heard hurried footsteps. On instinct, many of them turned, swords at the ready, but the newcomer was simply another knight. The knight ran past his fellows and stopped in front of Flynn and Estelle, panting lightly. “Mordio―she told me to come get you two, sir. She said it’s something you’ll want to see.”

Flynn and Estelle exchanged glances. Their first thought, shared between them, had been,  _ Did she find Yuri? _ Followed by:  _ Did she find Yuri  _ alive _? _ They nodded, though, and Flynn turned to the knights that had been with him.

“Follow this corridor all the way down and retrieve any information you can. If you find anything like… that,” he gestured to the room he and Estelle had left a few minutes ago, “keep track of where it was and report it when we meet back up again. I will be sending a full investigative force here as soon as I can.”

He got a round of salutes in response, and then he motioned for the knight to lead the way. He and Estelle briskly followed him, and Estelle kept pace beside him.

“What if it’s Yuri?” she asked, worried.

“Then…” He hesitated. He wasn’t sure. What would he do if they found Yuri and he was dead? His stomach twisted just thinking about it. “...we’ll figure it out when we get there.”

They were led back upstairs and down one of the facility’s wings. They could see Rita in the distance, and as they neared, the frown on her face was obvious. When they got close, she spoke. “I figured you guys would want to see this,” she said. “Well… you’re not going to want to, but you need to.” With that, she opened the door of the room she had been standing in front of and led the way inside.

Flynn and Estelle followed. It was a mid-sized room, and the walls were lined with cells. It looked more like a dungeon than anything else. There was a distinct smell in here, too, the same smell of death that had been in the other room. But this one was stronger, and for a very good reason.

Most of the prisoners on the left side of the room were human. Unfortunately, however, they were now very much dead. They appeared to have been executed; their hands were bound behind their backs, and the only wound the majority of them had suffered was a slice to the throat. Flynn’s own throat tingled slightly, and he reached up to gently rub it through the collar of his uniform. The people that had run this site… they were sick. He had to find them, because no one deserved the carnage that lay before him. He couldn’t imagine of what  _ else _ they had gone through.

He looked at each one of the victims carefully, though doing so made him feel sick to his stomach. None of them were Yuri and a twinge of relief swept over him, but only slightly. Things weren’t looking all that well. The only things that they had found alive in this place were the two monsters that had attacked him, and that didn’t bode very well for Yuri’s chances.

The other side of the room was packed with much smaller cells, stacked on top of one another―cages, more than cells, really. Animals were in these, but the animals had passed away, too, though there were no marks of these dying in the same way as the humans did. He realized with some horror that they had probably been starved to death, and the room felt that much more uncomfortable. He spoke to Rita, breaking the oppressive silence. “Have you found anything on what’s happened here?”

She nodded. “We’ve found a few files. I don’t know. There’s not a whole lot left. I think they left in a hurry,” she said, glancing over to the prisoners. “This is… more evidence of that. I feel like they would have tried to take them along, if they could’ve. I haven’t found anything on where they went, either.”

“Have you found anything about Yuri or Repede?” asked Estelle, bringing up the question that Flynn longed to ask. There was a glimmer of hope in her voice, and Rita stared at her for a long moment before she shook her head, sighing.

“No, nothing. I’m sorry, I haven’t found anything on either of them yet. I suppose you haven’t, either?”

Both of them shook their heads. “The lower level was cleared out well,” Flynn said. “Anything big or not nailed down seemed to have been taken with them, wherever they went.”

They left the room. The stench of death and  _ knowing _ how many corpses surrounding them was unnerving. “We’ll stay up here with you and help. I have my knights searching down below. There seems to be more information up here, anyways,” Flynn said.

They agreed, and off they went to search. The ground floor’s layout was cruciform in style, and the room full of death had been on the eastern wing. Flynn and Estelle endeavored to search the northern wing, and left the group together. The rooms were slightly less empty than the lower levels had been; in some cases, operating tables and cabinets with files still left in them could be found. But, still, they found nothing on Yuri or Repede. The facility seemed to be full of paper and corpses and nothing else.

At the end of the hall, a single, heavy door stood in front of them. Flynn opened it. Like the other rooms, this one was dark, but as he raised his lantern to illuminate it. The room was another mid-sized one, and his light reflected off of more bars. He frowned; more cells likely meant more death. He took a few steps forward, but this time, he didn’t notice a foul scent. Well, he did, but it wasn’t a rotting corpse smell. What he did notice, though, was that one of the cells’ door was open. He was about to mention the fact when he heard a rough snarl. He turned just in time to see something leap at him, and then he was bowled off his feet. He lost his grip on the lantern and it rolled away.

“Flynn!” Estelle shouted when she heard the thud, running into the room. She blinked in shock as she saw the creature that was over Flynn, and that Flynn―surprisingly easily―managed to kick away. Flynn scrambled to his feet, backing up and pulling his sword out, and he stared at the creature, and the creature stared right back, a snarl on his face.

The creature was the size of a large dog, and seemed mostly canine, but like the creatures at the main entrance, it had a disturbing mix of humanoid features. It was slightly hunched over, its blue-and-white fur raised in warning, and its claws, at the end of paws that vaguely resembled hands, dug into the ground. It had a dark, tangled mane that flowed down its back, and it stared at the two with piercing, odd-colored eyes. The creature’s right eye was a piercing blue, and the other was a soft gray.

It took a shaky step forward. They could see it was emaciated, its bones protruding a worrying amount from its body, but it wasn’t backing down. It snarled again, and its glare shifted to Flynn. Flynn froze when he made eye contact with it, recognition and denial arcing through him all at once. His grip on his sword loosened a bit as realization flowed through him.

“Estelle, that’s…” he whispered incredulously, not sure if he even believed himself. It couldn’t be; there was no way. And, yet, it was. “That’s Yuri.”


	4. Frayed

The creature stopped for a moment, its growl faltering only slightly. It seemed to have reacted to Flynn’s words, which he took rather positively. His mind was working on instinct, but… there was something in those eyes. That long, dark hair, though it was matted with dirt and blood, that gray eye―that was Yuri. But… that wasn’t  _ all _ Yuri. That blue-and-white fur, the electric blue eye―

“Flynn, that can’t be―you need to get out of there, Flynn.” There was something in the tone of Estelle’s voice that made him look away, and the moment he glanced away the creature snarled again and took another wavering step forward. It landed heavy on its paw and the snarl petered off into a brief whimper. Flynn hadn’t moved from where he stood, and Estelle’s words didn’t seem to change his mind. She was about to speak again when Flynn lowered his sword, sheathing it (though she also noticed the grip on his shield tightened, just in case). He leaned down slightly and spoke, in a soft tone.

“Yuri… Yuri, is that you?” he asked, his right hand held open as if to show he had no weapon. The creature stopped, staring at Flynn for a few moments. Its ears pricked and it seemed almost to relax. Its tail lowered to fall limply on the ground behind him. This moment of calm only lasted a few long breaths, though, because Flynn continued. “It’s me, Flynn. Yuri, it’s me.”

It stared, the emotion behind its odd-eyes unreadable. Then, it tensed all over again, lips curling to show sharp canines, and it opened its mouth. To the shock of both Flynn and Estelle, it spoke. Its voice was unmistakable―it was Yuri’s, but warped horribly, in such a tone that it sent shivers down their spines. “Fl...ynn,” it said, and then it raised its voice, clearly angry, “Fl- _ ynn _ !” It did not wait a moment later and it charged at the man in front of it, only to stop in its tracks as Estelle stood in front of him, shield raised.

It snarled at her, but it didn’t lunge to attack. Its head lowered, and it took a step back, a spark of something like fear in its eyes.

Flynn and Estelle exchanged glances, both seemingly unsure of what to do. It seemed furious towards Flynn, but… not as much so towards Estelle. Maybe that was something they could work with. Estelle gave a small nod before she knelt down. Flynn could see she was uneasy, but it was the only chance they had.

“Yuri, it’s ok. We’re not here to hurt you. We’re here to save you from this place,” she said. The creature―no, Yuri, it was definitely Yuri―quieted. He let out another soft whimper a second later. Flynn could clearly tell the aggressiveness was only a show; in reality, he was terrified. Yuri’s fur had yet to lay flat and he could see the anxiousness in his expression. “We want to help you.”

Yuri shivered, before he took a tentative step towards Estelle. When she didn’t react, he took another, lowering his head and nudging against her dress with a dry nose. Estelle looked up at Flynn and said quietly, “Go tell the others we need to leave. He… he doesn’t look good at all.” Not to mention the elephant in the room that was Yuri’s entire state; why was he like… this? Why did he look like….

Flynn nodded, standing. He tried to keep those thoughts out of his head―they would figure out what all of this was about, surely. It was just too much to take in at once. He gave one last glance between Estelle and Yuri, and said, “If anything happens… shout, alright?” Estelle nodded in return and he remained for only a breath longer, then turned and left. He walked down the hall, his mind racing so fast he could barely pick coherent thoughts from the storm, but he didn’t concentrate on them at the moment. He searched the hallways, glancing in rooms to find Rita.

He found Rita and the two knights Flynn had left to accompany her in a small room. She was leaning down, digging through drawers in a desk. Flynn knocked on the door as to not startle her and she glanced up upon hearing the noise, starting to say something about him interrupting her. Rita noticed the grim look on his face, though, and paused.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“We… found him,” Flynn said quietly. “At least… I think we did. We need to get him out of here, but the ladder up to Ba’ul isn’t going to work. Can you get Judith to land the ship somewhere nearby?”

Rita could tell something was up, but she nodded. “Yeah, alright. I’ll try to hurry. You two, come on. Just in case one of those monsters has been hiding.” The knights nodded and went to escort her from the room, and Flynn stepped aside to let them pass. He turned after the three of them left, walking back towards where Estelle had stayed with Yuri. His pace was hurried, out of concern for them both. 

He heard Estelle’s voice before he walked in. She was speaking softly to Yuri, obviously trying to comfort him. “We’re getting you out of here, alright…? You’re safe now.” When he entered, both Estelle and Yuri were still seated on the ground. Yuri looked up, and Flynn locked eyes with his almost feral gaze. He saw Yuri’s hackles prickle and his lips curled, and something deep in Flynn’s chest stirred. He couldn’t quite tell what―fear? Worry?―but it stopped him where he stood. Why did Yuri hate him so much?

“Flynn,” Yuri’s rough, warped voice growled. Flynn had never heard so much hatred and it startled him. Estelle glanced between the two before she quickly tried to calm Yuri to the state he had been only a few moments ago.

“Yuri, it’s ok. Flynn’s only trying to help, he won’t hurt you, either,” she said. “We’ve all been concerned.” Her words had a noticeable effect. Yuri’s pelt still prickled irritably and his gaze never left Flynn as if he did not trust the man, but his growling ceased and his muscles relaxed. Flynn breathed a small sigh of relief.

“I told Rita to have Judith land the Fiertia somewhere nearby, if she can. I didn’t think we’d be able to get him up in this condition,” Flynn said, addressing Estelle. “We can try… taking him out now. They’ll probably have landed by the time we get out.”

“We can try. Has Rita found anything…?”

“I didn’t ask her, but… I don’t think so. She seemed empty-handed.”

Estelle looked disappointed. “Oh….”

“I’ll have a more thorough investigation done, though. It won’t be as rushed as this one,” Flynn said. “Now… let’s see if we can get out of here.” Flynn walked over to pick up the lantern that had fallen over, clipping it back to his belt. He needed his hands free just in case. “Ah… how are we going to…?”

Estelle glanced at Yuri, before she pushed herself to stand. “Are you ready? Will you be able to walk?” she asked.

Yuri stared at her for a few long moments before he moved his head in a slow, jerking motion as if nodding. However, he didn’t move to stand. Instead, he looked back at Flynn and jerked his muzzle towards the door, letting out a rough noise that was almost a growl.

“I think he wants you to go first.”

Flynn nodded; he could tell that much. It made sense. Yuri distrusted him, though Flynn couldn’t figure out for the life of him why, and he clearly didn’t want Flynn to be walking where Yuri couldn’t see him. He started to leave, leading the way out of the building. Luckily, the cell Yuri had been trapped in was directly north of the entryway, so they didn’t have to make any twisting turns or lose themselves trying to leave. The whole time they walked, though, it was in awkward silence, and Flynn kept glancing back. His pace was unusually slow, because Yuri was struggling to keep up and he could see how each step was a painful limp onto deformed paws. He said nothing, however, not wishing to incite Yuri any further to anger than he had already.

When they ascended up the steps into the common area, Flynn’s eyes immediately landed on their adversaries from earlier. The monsters still lay dead, blood pooling around them and staining their already red uniforms even darker. Though they were dead, he was still on edge. They were so… humanoid, and they wore uniforms of the knights. He glanced back to Yuri, who had clearly tensed up as well. Yuri was staring at them, and moved slightly away, following Flynn but clearly keeping his distance from the creatures. Flynn didn’t blame him. He couldn’t help but wonder, though.  _ What if he’s… like them?  _ Yuri fit the bill quite well: he had been  _ changed _ into something more animal-esque, but he still retained some of his humanity. The only difference between the uniformed creatures and Yuri was that they had been far more humanoid and, in some ways, healthier; they had been agile and powerful, even if starved, but Yuri looked like he was struggling to walk without collapsing.

Flynn decided he would talk it over with Estelle and the others when they got on the Fiertia and he continued, opening the door for the other two. He blinked, having expected light, but the sun had already set and only the remnants of the sun’s dying light scattered across the sky. It felt still and quiet outside and he breathed in the cool air, a relief after remaining in the foul, stale air of the facility for so long.

Yuri stepped out onto the dirt and in the dim light of dusk, Flynn could see exactly how poor of a shape Yuri was in. His hair and fur was matted together with blood and dirt and his skin clung to his bones so tightly that Flynn could easily count his ribs. His fur was patchy, with marks on his neck and jaw that looked like it had been rubbed raw by something; a collar and muzzle, likely. The shadows of nighttime seemed to further accentuate his scrawiness when he looked up at the sky, and Flynn felt a sharp pang in his chest. Yuri had been missing for nearly five months. What all had happened during that time?

Yuri looked anxious, but as he took a couple more awkward steps, his ears pricked. He sniffed the air before glancing expectantly back at Flynn and Estelle. Flynn started forward again, through the path they had taken to get here. “Let’s go this way,” he said quietly. “They’ll probably be landing in the clearing to the west of here.”

Flynn and Estelle walked into the trees down a wagon-wide path, with both of them sending occasional glances at Yuri. Flynn wanted to offer to carry him, but since Yuri didn’t seem too keen on even letting Flynn get within arm’s reach of him, letting Flynn carry him seemed like it was way off the table. Estelle was by no means weak, but she probably wouldn’t be too fit to carry him all the way, either. So, they continued towards the clearing.

When the clearing came into view, Flynn told Estelle to wait where she stood for a moment. He boarded the Fiertia via the plank propped up the side of the landed ship and he spoke to the knights that were already aboard. They saluted him before turning and walking below deck. Flynn returned, gesturing Estelle and Yuri forward, though he didn’t explain his actions yet. “I’ll tell you later,” he simply said to Estelle, before they boarded the ship.

Flynn had already set up a room for Yuri and Repede should they have found them that was separate from the main barracks, just in case. It was a good thing he had, too―with how anxious Yuri had been, he doubted he would have been able to be around everyone at once. He certainly wouldn’t catch any sleep that way.

“We have a place for you to sleep, Yuri.” He could hear Estelle talking to Yuri behind him and glanced back. “And we’ll bring you food and water.”

When they arrived at the room and Flynn opened the door for him, Yuri paused, not quite entering just yet. A soft, nervous whine escaped him and his ears pinned back against his head. He looked back at Estelle. “It’s alright,” she reassured him. “We won’t lock the door, I promise. We’ll be right outside, I promise.”

Yuri stared at her for another few seconds, before looking to Flynn. He nodded to agree with her and Yuri seemed to find this evidence enough to trust them, because he finally walked into the room. He didn’t try jumping onto the cot that had been laid out for Yuri, and instead curled up onto the floor, a heavy sigh escaping him.

Yuri was fed soup that Estelle had prepared, because they both knew very well that he wouldn’t be able to take anything much richer than that. Afterwards, Yuri had seemed content enough to sleep, and they had left him alone.

Flynn was standing on the deck and leaned against the railing, the cold wind whipping against his face. Ba’ul had set off only an hour ago, and he could still see the vast, dark forests of Yurzorea below. He sighed, straightening up before he turned to lean back against the railing, lost in thought, and he jumped, startled, when he saw Judith standing there.

“Oh, hello,” he quickly said, standing up. When had she gotten there?

Judith smiled in her odd, mysterious way at him, and then walked over to the railing to glance down at the land that seemed to move below them. “It’s a long way down from here,” she mused. She didn’t seem to mind the cold air at all, despite her relative lack of clothing. Flynn was in warm, casual sleepwear and he was still chilly, and he couldn’t help but notice.

“Hm? Yes… I suppose so.” Flynn had only traveled via Ba’ul a couple times in the past. It was always… interesting, for sure.

They stood in silence, before Flynn asked, “So… what brings you out here at this time of night?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” she said. “But… oh, I just suppose I haven’t been able to sleep. I’m just worried about Yuri.” Other than the slight change in the pitch of her voice, Judith didn’t  _ seem _ too worried. To be fair, though, Judith never really seemed to be… much of anything. Her personality was an enigma to Flynn.

“Oh. Yes… I worry about him, too.”

“I saw when you came on board. Is that really him?”

Flynn paused, tipping his head back. He stared up at the stars and sighed. “I… I’m pretty sure it is. I don’t know how, but….”

Judith simply nodded. “Estelle told me about the monsters you encountered. I suspect they might be related. Besides, we’ve seen stranger things”

The monsters. Flynn frowned slightly. Were they really monsters? Were they knights, people like Yuri, who had been changed beyond recognition, locked away and left to starve? A warped memory of a voice whispered in his ear.  _ Hungry _ . “I suppose we have,” he replied, distracted.

Where could the people who’d run that facility could have gone? They’d packed up and left in a hurry. It couldn’t have been too long ago; there hadn’t been enough time for dust to settle completely on the remaining furnishings, and what carnage they had left behind seemed no older than two weeks or so. It was a rather large facility, too, so there had to be quite a few of the scientists and mages still. Where had they all gone? Had they scattered? Had they moved to an even more remote location? His mind flickered to the most remote places he could think of, visions of Weccea, western Hypionia and southern Desier filling his mind, just in case. There might not be someone to send in a tip this time, either. If they had moved, why had they only brought half their things with them? Why had they left the knight-monsters behind? His mind jumped from subject to subject and he didn’t snap back to reality until he heard Judith calling his name.

“Wh-what? Sorry, I’m―I’m just a little distracted. Today’s been a busy day.”

Judith nodded slightly. “I understand. You should get some rest. It’s very late, you know, and you might need your energy tomorrow.”

Flynn sighed, but he couldn’t help but agree with her. “You’re right. I’ll see you in the morning. Good night, Judith.”

“Good night, Flynn.”

That morning, Yuri was fed soup again, although this time with a tiny amount of meat added, which he had wolfed down hungrily. Flynn had brought him the food that time, because he was trying to regain Yuri’s trust, and when he went to retrieve the empty bowl, Yuri snarled so angrily at him Flynn feared he might lose a finger if he actually took the bowl away, so Flynn left him. Later, Estelle went in to heal him some and Flynn had stuck around just in case. When Estelle came out and closed the door lightly behind her, though, she looked upset.

“Estelle? What’s wrong?” Flynn asked. She looked up at him, before shaking her head.

“I… I don’t know. It’s weird, I…” She trailed off. “Let’s… let’s go get Rita. I’ll explain with her.”

He followed her, concerned as to why she seemed so distraught, but he didn’t press her for answers yet. She led them to the barracks, where Rita was laying on a bed, her back to the wall and reading a thin leather-bound book. The mage looked up when they entered and she seemed to notice how down Estelle looked immediately. “Estelle?” she asked, slipping a bookmark into the book. She put it down beside her and moved to the edge of the bed. “Are you ok?”

“Yes, it’s just―about Yuri. I figured you should know, too.”

Flynn pulled up a chair from the small table near them, and Estelle sat on the bed next to Rita. She glanced down at her gloved hands.

“When I tried to heal him―I don’t know, I… I think it hurt him. Like I was doing something wrong.”

Flynn and Rita stiffened, exchanging a glance with one another. “Like… with the entelexeia?” Rita asked softly.

Estelle shook her head. “No, that… that was different. That felt… it’s hard to describe it, but it felt like a magical reaction, but this… it just feels  _ wrong _ . I can barely heal the cuts on him. Anything worse than that, and… he was in pain, I could tell. I was going to try to heal him again, but he started growling at me, so….”

Rita was concerned, but intrigued. Her curiosity was clearly driving her to ask more questions. “That’s odd. Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

“No. Well… maybe. I mean, I’ve never healed something like Yuri is right now. I’ve healed animals and people before, but Yuri doesn’t feel like any of that. And when I try to fix something, it just… hurts him.”

Rita paused and leaned back, thinking. “Hm… damn, I wish I had gotten more time to see if I could find more of their records if they left any.”

“I’ll send out an actual team to secure the area once we’re back in Zaphias,” Flynn assured her. “I don’t want any evidence to go missing. Anything that we find, you can read.”

She nodded. “Right. Well, hm. From what we know so far… those mages were working on experiments with people and animals, and I assume working with blastia. Obviously, their experiments―at least the blastia-based ones―must have stopped by the time we got rid of the blastia. I don’t know how long ago they abandoned their work; maybe two weeks ago? All of the animals in that one room were starved. We can assume they stopped feeding them a while ago. They were probably starting to pack up to leave as soon as Tarqaron fell.”

“That was two months ago, though. Yuri couldn’t have survived that long without food,” Flynn pointed out.

“Maybe they planned on taking him with them, but something happened so they had to get out quickly, so they just left the non-essentials, killed all of the human subjects remaining, and left. They probably didn’t think about anyone coming here for a long, long time. Or… maybe they did, and that’s why they killed anyone who could talk, and left those two monsters to guard. They might have just forgotten about Yuri or been too busy to care, I don’t know.”

Rita’s words were irritating Flynn as he thought of those mages carelessly taking human lives and forgetting the animals to starve. He could only hope they would find enough evidence to bring them into custody and show them the justice they deserved.

“Is there anything you’ve found?” Rita asked them, breaking into his thoughts. “I mean, other than Yuri, obviously. We didn’t get much time to talk about things last night.”

“Estelle found a room that was… strange. Most of the other rooms were pretty bland or the doors were locked, but this one was different,” Flynn began to explain. “It was―big. There were steps leading down into it, and an upper and lower part to the room. In the upper part, there were five platforms―do you have a piece of paper and pen?”

Rita nodded. She stood, walking over to her things before she pulled out a small book. She flipped it open to a new page and picked up a pen from her bag, and handed both of them to Flynn. He made a quick sketching, then pointed to the five squares that surrounded the inner circle. “These were platforms. On each platform there was a painted magic circle―nothing I recognize, or Estelle either―and a blastia core.” He pointed to the inner circle, where the only shape inside was a large square, and he grimaced. “There was a cage in the lower area, with a heavy lock, but it was open. Inside, there was…” He slowed. The memory of what was inside made his stomach curl, but he continued anyway. “There was blood all over it, and… parts. Some of them were human―a woman. The other was some kind of animal. They were both too disfigured and ripped apart to tell anything useful about them.”

Rita listened, taking the book from him and staring at his mediocre sketch of the room. She frowned before looking up at them, but she didn’t speak for a few lengths. It was as if she, for once, didn’t know how to put her words together. “Yuri… looks a lot like Repede now, doesn’t he?”

This time, Estelle and Flynn were the ones to exchange glances. It didn’t take them much to guess what she was insinuating.

“There’s no way,” Estelle said. “That can’t be….”

“I mean… clearly there is. He looks just like him, down to the fur,” Rita said. “And, the ones that attacked you… they were half-human, half-animal, too. Just… a lot more better suited to being the way they were than Yuri. Plus, with this room and what you found in it… I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve been trying to combine people and animals. Repede and Yuri are both strong―no wonder they would want to try to… combine them.”

“Then why did he turn out… like this?”

Rita shrugged faintly. “I don’t know. Maybe he was just one of the first ones that they tried, and the guards might have been the latter attempts. Clearly they were getting better. Although… that doesn’t explain why you found that room full of gore. They were obviously trying to perfect their technique; what happened to cause… that?”

“Have you found anything in the records you recovered?” Flynn asked.

Rita shook her head, reaching for the thin book. “No. This is all I could find for now. I’ve only read about the first fourth of it, though. I think parts of it are in code, not to mention the scribe who wrote this just had awful handwriting. From what I could see so far, though, it’s all been pretty basic blastia experiments. Either their other records were behind some of those locked doors, they’ve taken them with them, or they’ve destroyed them. Hopefully… not the last two.”

It made sense. Well, it ‘made sense’ as far as the party’s warped version of ‘sense’ was. That didn’t, however, make it any easier to swallow, other than the fact that that knowledge may lead them to even more information. The three of them sat quietly, all thinking to themselves, before Estelle spoke up again.

“So… what are we going to do with him?”

“Pardon?” asked Flynn.

“I mean… where is he going to stay? He can’t stay with me in the castle. If he got out, the nobles… they wouldn’t stand for that. Plus, I’ve never taken care of an animal before. I mean, Yuri’s not completely an animal, but… you know.”

Rita shook her head, raising her hands to deflect the question. “Don’t look at me. I don’t know how to take care of a dog  _ or _ a person. Flynn?”

“Er… I could, but I don’t think Yuri would much like that. He doesn’t seem to appreciate me being around too much,” he said. “Why doesn’t he stay with Brave Vesperia?”

“Hm, maybe. But I think having Estelle nearby would be convenient, and Halure’s not too far away if I need to go between home and studying him to see if we can do anything about it, so I would prefer if he stays in Zaphias. Why don’t you try?”

Estelle gave him a pleading look. “Yes, Flynn, I’m sure he’d be fine. After all, you have such a nice house now, too. Surely he’d like it! Besides, you’ve known both Yuri and Repede longer than any of us have. You’d probably be the best caretaker.”

She had a point. Well, she had several, really. He sighed before smiling shakily at her. “Alright, well… we’ll see how Yuri likes it. If he doesn’t, we’ll figure something out.”

They arrived about two miles out of Zaphias in the morning, four days after taking off from Yurzorea. The ship had landed, but they had not left just yet. Flynn had sent two of the knights with him to retrieve a wagon to easier transport Yuri, without risking both Yuri’s anxiety and whatever passersby would think.

Yuri had been doing a lot better; he was still only eating soup and there was no way to give him a proper bath on the Fiertia so he still looked pretty mangy and sickly. However, he seemed to be more alert and active, and he had actually started to let Flynn take an empty bowl away without threatening the safety of his hand. He still wasn’t terribly comfortable around Flynn, though. Or around anyone, for that matter. But, there was improvement, no matter how small, and at this point, they would take what they could get.

One of the knights returned about an hour later with a quietta-drawn wagon. Estelle coaxed Yuri out, though he seemed hesitant to come out of the hold; he’d spent most of his time the past few days in his room, only occasionally following Estelle or Flynn out somewhere. He stepped out onto the ship’s main deck and Estelle led him to the gap in the railing where the plank was set up, but the moment he got to the railing and saw the wagon he stopped in his tracks. He let out a snarl, backing up. His hackles rose and he sent an accusatory stare up at Estelle, and then back at Flynn, who had been following.

“Yuri? What is it?” Estelle asked, glancing up at Flynn. Had they done something?”

Yuri glared at the wagon and backed up, lips curled. He looked betrayed, scared, and angry all at the same time.

“Yuri, it’s ok. We’re just taking you to Zaphias,” Flynn tried. “We’re not going to hurt you, we just don’t want anyone freaking out over you, ok? It’ll be safer for you.”  _ Why does he hate the wagon so much…? _ Flynn tried to think for a moment, and then remembered the wagon trail that cut through the woods.  _ Is that what brought him there? _

Yuri didn’t look as angry as before, but he also didn’t seem calm. He trusted Estelle (and maybe Flynn to a degree), but there was clear hesitation in his eyes.

“Come on, Yuri, it’ll be fine,” Estelle said. “If you want out ever, we’ll let you out. Just try, ok? We’re not out to get you.”

He hesitated in place for a few more moments before he began to slink forward, his head low and his fur still on end. Flynn could tell he was still uneasy, but Yuri followed Estelle down to the wagon. Flynn heard a door open and turned his head, looking towards the hold. Rita, Judith, and Karol emerged.

“Hello. Are you here to see us off?”

“Nope,” Rita said. “I’m coming with you. I’ll rent a room at the inn or something.”

“Me and Judy coming, too!” Karol said. “We can’t just go back to Dahngrest like this. Plus, what if you need Judy and Ba’ul for something? You can’t really sit there and wait however long it takes for a letter get all the way to Dahngrest!”

Flynn chuckled softly. “I… suppose. Although, can you really take that much time from your guild?” Rita was understandable; she was a private researcher, and though Flynn had no idea where she got her gald for her room and board, it made sense for her to take time off of things (although she wasn’t really, considering the situation). The guild, however, had a reputation to uphold, from what he understood of things.

“Yeah! Well, uh, probably. But even if we normally couldn’t, this is too important to let go. It’s Yuri, after all!”

“Of course. What about Raven?”

“Oh, he probably has a lot of stuff Altosk is making him do. I doubt he’d be free even if we asked,” Karol said. “But we’ll send him a letter so he knows everything that’s going on. Maybe he’ll visit if he can!”

Flynn nodded, and then glanced down at the wagon. Estelle was helping Yuri in, because jumping up the foot or so to get in wasn’t really in Yuri’s abilities at the moment. “Alright. This is… going to be a bit crowded, though.”

Rita shook her head. “No, I’m fine with walking. Besides, I’ve seen how anxious he is right now. We probably don’t want to crowd him all right now.”

Flynn nodded. “Fair enough. Well… I’ll see you all some other time.”

Estelle led Yuri into Flynn’s home, and Flynn followed them, going in to open the blinds and let natural light flood the room. Yuri looked around at his unfamiliar surroundings. Neither Yuri nor Repede had been there before; he’d got the house after they had gone missing. He watched as Yuri leaned down to sniff around. Estelle spoke up, watching Yuri as well. “I’ll go make something for us all to eat,” she said. Flynn frowned slightly.

“You’ve been cooking all this time. I could hardly ask you to do it again,” he protested, starting forward. She wasn’t a bad cook, but she’d been cooking for Yuri every day. “Let me do it this time.”

She gave him a look that stopped him where he was. “No, Flynn. I’ve got this,” she said. “Why don’t you give him a bath?”

He nodded. “Alright… fine. Make sure he doesn’t get anything. I’ll go run the bath.”

Flynn left her and walked down the narrow hallway to his bathroom. He lit the lamp inside so that he could see before he closed the plug and turned on the water. It took several minutes for it to fill, and once it was finally a good depth and temperature, he called Yuri.

Yuri appeared at the door several moments later, peering in curiously. He took a step in, sniffing the floor before he saw the tub filled with water. He growled again when he saw it, looking at Flynn as if demanding explanation.

“You just need a bath, Yuri. Look at you, you’ve got dirt all over!”

Yuri didn’t seem convinced. He huffed, but didn’t move.

“Yuri, please. I don’t want you stomping dirt all over my house,” Flynn said. “It won’t take long, I promise. It’s just a bath. You’ll feel a lot better afterwards!”

Yuri glanced between him and the bath. His head lowered and Flynn could see something in his eyes. He was still afraid. Flynn leaned in and put his hand into the water, swishing it about. He pulled it out and presented his very much still intact, unharmed hand towards Yuri. “See? It’s fine. There’s nothing to worry about.”

Though Yuri still looked unconvinced, he finally walked in, his paws leaving little tracks of dust behind. At least he was coming in, though. He walked over to Flynn and stood expectantly beside him.

“Let me help you into the tub, ok?”

Yuri didn’t move and Flynn took it as a quiet acceptance. He stood and leaned over to pick Yuri up, noting immediately that he was a lot lighter than he looked like he should have been. Yuri squirmed, but otherwise didn’t protest―that was, not until his foot touched the water. In that very moment, he began to thrash. Flynn yelped, because despite Yuri’s light weight, there was very much still strength in him, especially after spending the past few days recovering. He nearly lost his balance and he grabbed the edge of the tub to keep himself from falling, though this was at this misfortune of dropping Yuri. Yuri scrambled up with such vigor that the water sloshed out of the tub and he pulled his front paws out.

“Yuri! Yuri, it’s ok!” Flynn said, holding a hand out to stop him from jumping out completely. Yuri looked at him and let out a piercing whine, and Flynn had to admit he looked pretty pathetic. All of his struggling in the water left him half-soaked, which only made him look skinnier. “It’s ok, see? Nothing’s wrong. It’s just water. Come on….” He moved Yuri’s front paws off the edge of the tub and back into it, then grabbed a cup and shampoo. He didn’t have any shampoo for fur, but… hopefully this would work fine. Yuri was remaining still for now, so that was something at least.

Flynn poured cups of water down Yuri’s back, and it didn’t take long before the bathwater was stained dark. He frowned, but continued, pouring some shampoo down Yuri’s back and moving to lather it in. Yuri was standing as stiff as a rod, probably because he was terrified and just wanted it over with, so Flynn tried to make it quick. He rinsed the foam out of Yuri’s fur.

The moment he pulled the drain and set the cup down, Yuri pushed him to the side with his nose and climbed out of the tub. He slid briefly on the slick tiles before shaking roughly, water and loose fur going everywhere and all over Flynn. “Yuri!!” he protested, but Yuri didn’t seem to care. He didn’t think he was done, either, and shook again, before he quickly began to limp out of the room. “Hold on! Let me dry you off!”

Yuri’s pace quickened and he left Flynn alone in the bathroom. Flynn stood and took a step forward, nearly sliding on the slick floors. He caught himself, though, before he followed Yuri, annoyed with his antics. Even after being kidnapped, dealing with being half-dog and likely far more issues that Flynn didn’t even know about, Yuri still managed to get under his skin.

He followed Yuri out to where he had made himself comfortable on one of Flynn’s couches, and he could see the water soaking the furniture. “Yuri, come on! That’s new!” Yuri didn’t move, though, and when Flynn took a step forward, he let out a rumbling, threatening growl, just daring him to take a step further.

Flynn stopped, sighed roughly, and heard Estelle giggling behind him. “What?”

“Nothing,” she said, standing in the hallway. “It just looks more like you took a bath with him.”

He looked down. His clothes were soaked and covered in dark hairs and muddied dirt, and he huffed slightly. “Just about,” he said, before walking towards the stairs. “I’m going to go change out of this.”

“Alright,” said Estelle. He could practically  _ taste _ the amusement in her voice. “I’m almost done, by the way.”

  
  


It was late afternoon, just before dusk, and Flynn was exhausted. After giving Yuri a bath and having lunch, he and Estelle had rearranged his dining room, converting it to a room for Yuri, complete with a soft mattress and blanket. Originally, Flynn was going to try converting his study, but since it was upstairs it wasn’t likely to be a good candidate. While Yuri had recovered somewhat and had certainly become a bit more agile, he wasn’t necessarily up for going up and down stairs all day. Maybe some other time.

Now, though, Yuri was asleep in his room, he’d cleaned out the dirt from the bathtub, and Estelle had cleaned his largely-unused kitchen. The past week had been exhausting and he couldn’t wait to get a good night’s rest. Estelle left thirty minutes ago, and Flynn was laying on his still-damp couch, eyes closed.

A knocking at his door stirred him. Who would be wanting to see him this late? He got up and opened the door anyway, however, and stared when he saw Witcher standing on his porch.

“Oh, hello. What’s brought you here?”

“Commandant! Rita Mordio told me to give these to you,” Witcher said, holding a small stack of papers. Flynn blinked and took them, looking down. They were in Rita’s fast, messy handwriting, and there was a paperclip with a note attached to it. “She said they were important.”

“Alright, thank you. I’ll take a look at them,” he said. “Have a good night, Witcher.”

When Witcher left, he closed the door and walked over and set the papers on the couch. He lit the lamp beside him so that he could read properly, and picked the note off the papers first.

_ I was skimming the book I found & I found these on Yuri & Repede. I’ve spent all day copying them for you so we can both have a copy, I figured you might want to take a look. I’ve decoded as much as I can. It’s not going to be very fun to read so just brace yourself. _

The note made him frown, and he put it down to the side, picking up the papers. He’d been planning to go to sleep, but he was direly curious to know what had happened to Yuri. He got comfortable on the couch, shifted the lamp to see better, and began to read.

  
  


It was past midnight when he finished. He was tired, but… sickened, mostly. The records were mostly empirical values to describe how Yuri and Repede did on various tests, which tested their strength, their speed, how well they followed instructions, their endurance, their pain tolerance. It also listed basic information, like their name, height, weight and blood type. Half of it read like the stats of an athlete, and the other half read like a medical document. What piqued his curiosity (and his sympathy) the most, however, was the description of what they planned to do with him, and then what they did.

It described in detail how Yuri (or, as they simply referred to him as, ‘#3’) was turned into his current state―a ‘chimera’, they called it―and it read that he had been the third attempt. He was, however, the first  _ surviving _ attempt at chimerism. Not only that, but after putting him through the, by its own admission, agonizing procedure, they subjected Yuri to every single test all over again, to study how the combination had ‘changed’ him.

When Flynn finished reading the papers, he threw them down onto the couch beside him. He leaned forward, running his fingers through his hair, feeling anger course through his veins. He was going to catch those damned mages if it was the last thing he did. For what they had done to Yuri and Repede, and to every other unfortunate soul that had fallen prey to them, they deserved it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end for now! If you've read this far, I'm thankful and I hope you enjoyed what there is. I'm very sorry I probably won't get to finishing it. One day perhaps!
> 
> Also, if you want a reference for what Chimera-Yuri/Repede look like I did draw them once! https://i.imgur.com/VExo38N.png


End file.
